Gods know I hate to offend people or step on their toes. So it upsets me to find that something I’ve posted on social media or something I’ve said in passing was hurtful. That’s not to say I haven’t on rare occasion given voice to a sentiment I knew would be hurtful. I’m only human,…
Month: October 2017
The Faraway Nearby
By Rebecca Solnit Penguin Books, © 2014 ISBN 978-0143125495, 272 pages Like I said before, I don’t usually read memoirs. At least, I haven’t in the past. This is my second one this month, and I have to say I may be changing my mind. Though I have to say that this isn’t exactly a…
Writing For the Birds
I love haircut day. I get to sit in a chair and be pampered by my friend Ashley, who always seems fascinated by whatever project I have in the works at any given time. So this last visit, I somehow found myself summarizing for her the “finished” short stories I’m pitching just now. Half of…
Long-stemmed Roses
Yesterday, Bobby and I walked on the beach in the chill Autumn drizzle. Among our discoveries of a tiny moss-like crab lurking among the branches of a beached coral, a string of shells, and darting sanderlings, we found a long-stemmed pink rose. Far past its prime, the thing looked sad, dejected, and Bobby asked me…
Bumbling Into Body Hair
By Everett Maroon First Ed. Booktrope, © 2012, ISBN 9781935961338, 250 pages Second Ed. Smashwords, © 2016, ISBN 9781370241484 I don’t usually read memoirs, as a rule. I never thought they would interest me. I was wrong. Bumbling Into Body Hair is a story of the author’s transition from Jenifer to Everett, and all the…
Some Reassembly Required
I’m a little embarrassed to admit that it took me more than fifty years to realize that the old saying “Life is what happens while you’re making other plans” means exactly what it says. To understand that this moment—not the one when I finally get my act together and all is right with the world—is…
Write. Right?
I signed up for another 6-session fiction class, where students write and submit, then critique each other’s work. I’m excited, but I’m also nervous, as I am anytime I share my stories with someone else. (That’s crazy talk, you say; don’t you want to get published? Won’t that mean others are reading your words all…
The Traitor’s Kiss
(Traitor’s Trilogy, Book 1) by Erin Beaty Imprint, ©2017 ISBN 978-1-250-11794-6 Hardback, 352 pages Sixteen-year-old Sage Fowler would rather live off the land than submit to a traditional arranged marriage, despite her uncle’s wishes. After she is apprenticed as an assistant—and part-time spy—to the head matchmaker, the two of them set out across Demora with…