In the spring of 1975 when I was 22, my boyfriend Nick and I decided we would go to Europe after I graduated from college in June. (He was already finished with school and up for an adventure). The goal was to go for a year and the original plan (or at least the one…
Author: lenleatherwood
I am a native Texan who has lived for the past 30 years in Southern California. I am a published author of both short memoir and fiction, a two-time Pushcart nominee, a nationally award-winning writing coach, an editor, as well as a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Texas. In addition, I am the mother of three grown daughters of whom I am extremely proud, a grandmother of four darling children and the wife of a man I still love after 44 years.
Quick-Write Musings
I am sitting with fifteen-year-old Michael and we are both doing our quick writes. I have been working all day with students on college essays that are due either today or November 30th so this is a nice respite from that very concentrated work. Cordelia, our corgi, just jumped up on the couch next to…
Michael’s PGA Award-Winning Short Film: Please Watch!
Michael Bina, my former writing student and current writing friend (we meet weekly to write together for two hours on our separate projects), recently won 2nd place for his entry in the Producers Guild of America’s “Make Your Mark” weekend shorts competition. Michael and his collaborator, Shawn Shekarchian, produced, wrote and directed this unbelievably poignant film…
5-Star Asparagus Soup Recipe
I made this soup for lunch and it was easy and delicious. This is one of those foolproof recipes that doesn’t require much work and has lots of flavor. I highly recommend it. My picture isn’t very pretty, but it’s the best I could do. Still, the soup was wonderful. I felt as if I…
My First Quick Write With a New Student
I am sitting with Elliot. He is a new student who needs help with his freshman writing. He goes to Beverly Hills High. His mom is here with him and she is reading a book while we write. We are going to write for five minutes as our first quick write. The dogs have been…
My Students and A Bit of “Light” Reading
I am sitting with my student Michael. We are doing a quick write. I am tired. This is my usual mantra these days. I have lots of students, back to back, right now, which is not, by the way, how I usually work. During other times of the year, I mix up my day with…
Students, Students, Students
I am in the middle of my big push. November 1 deadlines have been met and now we’re on to November 15th. Then, we head right into December 1 deadlines before getting all the January 1 goals met before the holidays. Also, there are term papers due. I am working on Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert…
Back Home
I got up early this morning and headed back to LA from Ojai because I was scheduled to serve as subdeacon at our 10:30 Mass. (Ray left last night to attend a fund-raiser for our Diocese.) After church, we met our friend David for lunch, a movie, then a post-movie snack. We had a lot of…
A Great Day
Liz and Ron’s living space is getting more and more organized. I spent the first part of today helping Liz clean and get things in place in the 1958 Spartan that is the next big project in their “little home” living experiment. It sits right next to their little house and will provide an office…
Ojai Again
We are up here for a couple of days, helping daughter Liz and her fiancé Ron get their little house details squared away. I am the helper; Ray is the leader on this aspect of the project. Today was centered on electricity and plumbing repair. Their little house is adorable. Sarah, Gregorio, Luna and Nico…
20 Minutes a Day 