I just had the occasion to read out loud the last five scenes in A Streetcar Named Desire while working with a high school student and I must say that good ole Tennessee was adept at creating tension, presenting nuanced and multi-dimensional characters and providing a plot that didn’t shy away from any number of…
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.
Grandbaby Day
My day in photos in reverse since the battery on my phone is about to die. Bath time tonight. A Cake Luna and I Made Luna Nico Taking a Nap
An Afternoon at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood
My youngest daughter, Rachael, took me to the Pantages Theater today to see a production called Circus, 1903, The Golden Age of Circus. According to the playbill: The producers of the world’s biggest magic show, The Illusionists have teamed up with the award winning puppeteers from War Horse to present a thrilling turn of the…
Repost: The Continued Relevance Today of Elie Wiesel’s book, Night
Today I worked with one of my UCLA students on a paper centered on Elie Wiesel’s book, Night. This is Wiesel’s first-hand account of being forced to leave his home in Transylvania (along with his entire village) and relocate first to Auschwitz and later to Buchenwald concentration camps during World War II. The volume is slim…
Flash Fiction Published in Real Women Write Anthology
I am very pleased and proud that I have a flash fiction piece that has been published in the Real Women Write Anthology published by Story Circle Network. This is a wonderful collection of poems, memoir pieces and flash fiction. To order an anthology here’s the link: http://www.storycircle.org/frmanthology.shtml Here is my story. Intersections Jacob Peterson stared…
Happy St. Valentine’s Day
Ray and I are heading up to Ojai to spend the night tonight. This is our Valentine’s gift to each other, to go to the peace of the orange grove until tomorrow afternoon. At that point, we will give each other the second part of our Valentine’s gift, an overnight visit with our two beloved…
Scholastic Art and Writing Contest Winners
I am happy to report that I have four Western regional winners (8 states) in the oldest and most prestigious writing contest for youth, grades 7 – 12, in the United States. Alumni recipients include such notable writers as Truman Capote, Stephen King, Sylvia Plath, and Robert Redford. Alexa N., a senior at Harvard-Westlake, has…
Medical School Bound!
Congratulations to my writing student Fong Nham, who has recently been accepted to the M.D. Program at the Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine (HWCOM) for the Class of 2021. Fong is a UCLA graduate and currently works in medical research at City of Hope. His parents escaped from the brutal Communist regime…
Made it Back to LA
We arrived late afternoon here in LA. The traffic, despite rain and rush hour, was remarkably light. We are now heading off to bed since the trip fatigue just hit big time. We left at 10 am yesterday, Central time, stopped at midnight last night, started again this morning at 8 am Mountain time, and…
Heading Back West
We have stopped in Holbrook, AZ for the night after 14 hours of driving. Tired, but happy to be here. Stopped at our favorite health food store in Amarillo late this afternoon. Always love visiting this family-owned fabulous store and enjoying their homemade honey-sweetened treats. Heading on to LA tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing home…
20 Minutes a Day 