It was uncomplicated and obvious: sit and write. But she could not. Not with the kids, and the dishes, and the emails, and the days that required all of the mental fortitude and focus she could mine from within the depths of her weary being. She was always buzzing with the undercurrent of restless energy … More Chasing Phantoms
Originally posted on bookworm_shawn:
As you sit anxiously (not eagerly) watching the days of summer vacation dwindle away to nothing, thank your teachers. I know you have yet to meet them, or if by chance you have met them, to interact with them in any real way yet, but thank them nonetheless. You may not…
(My beloved Paperblanks journal! Get it here: http://amzn.to/2v7JoOw ) It sounds great in theory. Sketch out your plot, draft at your leisure, and slowly but steadily create what will one day become your first published novel. You have other sources of revenue so writing is your passion, not your livelihood, but therein lies the problem. You … More Pitfalls of a Part-time Writer
There was something definitively depressing about the beach. A combination of nostalgiac regret and reminders of one’s mortality and insignificance. Every sound and smell was a reminder of the unrelenting passage of time. These were thoughts she didn’t voice aloud. The day had started out auspiciously enough, with a cloudless sky and a trip to … More Jasmine
-Daisy- None of them seemed to grasp the severity of the situation. She was withering away and they were flitting past her like hummingbirds, planning cruises and complaining about Pinterest baking fails. How could they be that blind to the inevitable conclusion? Her inevitable conclusion. Perhaps they weren’t and this was their way of coping. … More Daisy
Man, oh man- this gentleman is brilliant! I might have guessed an “American author, bioethicist, physician, lawyer and social critic” according to Wikipedia, would produce some stellar writing, but still wasn’t prepared for how fully invested I’d be in each story in Jacob M. Appel’s The Topless Widow of Herkimer Street! The characters are … More Brilliant Stories from a Brilliant Mind: The Topless Widow of Herkimer Street by Jacob M. Appel
-Violet- There were various elements at play. The weather. Her work schedule. How she will feel about herself at that particular moment in time. She cannot simply commit to going. If she can say maybe, she’ll say that, but any more commitment needed and her response will be a resounding no, out of sheer necessity. … More Violet
Class after class, year after year, she introduced reluctant high school juniors to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s masterwork, The Scarlet Letter. Yet the novel never got old to her- something new always managing to kindle an imaginative spark within her. She had voiced her desire to write this book for as long as I can remember. … More A Worthy Prequel to The Scarlet Letter: Cherie Aldridge’s Hester
Have you ever read something so poignant that it almost makes you angry? Angry that you can’t set words dancing melodically to a beautiful and evolving narrative the way this writer so effortlessly can? Surely, I’m not alone on this one . . . ? From the first paragraph of the first page of Shani Mootoo’s … More A Beautiful Study in Narrative Voice: Shani Mootoo’s Moving Forward Sideways Like a Crab
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