‘Time marches on…’ my teacher would declare expansively, as if it was a revelation never shared before. ‘…so what have you done with yours?’ Experience taught me to expect that addendum, but seldom how to answer satisfactorily. Often caught staring out the window, it wasn’t hard to figure out I’d been daydreaming again. Escaping into… Continue Reading
For What or Whom Do We Write?
Yes I know; the phrase we writers so often ponder isn’t quite the one of this blog post’s title. The preposition we expect is ‘for’, not ‘of’, but that’s the whole point of this post. Yet again on second thought, ‘for whom do we write?’ is also appropriate to the question at hand. The answer,… Continue Reading
Adaptation
Most people jump to thoughts of Charles Darwin the minute they hear the word, ‘adaptation’; perhaps not the seven-year-old Darwin of the portrait to the left, but the father of the theory of evolution, nonetheless. One and the same, Darwin was already studying natural history, as this portrait of him clutching his beloved plant confirms.… Continue Reading
“Not Just a Woman Who Composes…”
“…but a composer who is a woman.” Ambroise Thomas once said this of Cecile Chaminade. I uncovered his comment while researching middle and late 19th century musicians for my current historical novel, The Gilded Cage. It seemed the perfect connection for my female protagonist as she entered a discussion with one of Thomas’ friends,… Continue Reading
Big Sister in Memoriam
A memorial is an opportunity to share memories—in this case about my sister, Anne Stires Blackwell. Obviously siblings have a lot of memories of each other, if they grew up together as Annie and I did, but many of them are in sort of a jumble, part of the chaos of daily living. Still, there… Continue Reading
Who Says? History; that’s Who!
I’ve been getting quite a few comments lately about the ‘Who Says?’ column on the blog. Naturally I wish the people who wrote had included you, the reader, by commenting on the posts instead of directly to me. But let’s face it; I’m going to share their thoughts with you anyway, albeit anonymously, so we’ll… Continue Reading