We went tonight to see the Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel and I would highly recommend it. It is fun, tells a grand tale and has a host of compelling performances, the greatest of which is Ralph Fiennes. He simply shines on the screen, perfectly suited for this part as a devoted concierge and…
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.
Honey-Sweetened Orange Cake for Ray (Includes Recipe)
I am baking this orange cake tonight as a welcome home goodie for Ray who is returning from Texas tomorrow. This looked so easy, I couldn’t resist. This is from Elton Brown, who is generally reliable. I am looking forward to getting a taste of this pound cake since the orange zest comes from our…
A Character Study for My Novel-in-Progress
How my parents ever got together, I can never figure out. My mother is tall, my dad isn’t exactly short, but he’s a good two inches shorter than Mama. He has dark curly hair; she has blonde straight hair. He’s a Republican; she’s a Democrat. He’s a teetotaler; she loves wine and overindulges regularly. He sings…
Publication!
I am pleased to report that my flash fiction piece, “A Brother’s Gift” has been accepted for publication at the Provo Canyon Review, a print literary journal. I am especially pleased about this because I rather impulsively submitted it when I saw the Provo Canyon Review’s Call for Submissions. This is a very short piece,…
Doing What Needs To Be Done
I started my day a little discombobulated. What to do and how to get it done? Then I thought about the basic tenets of Morita Therapy, a Japanese psychotherapy that draws heavily from Zen Buddhism: Accept your feelings. Know your purpose. Do what needs to be done. I then proceeded to perform a myriad of…
Morning with Luna
Today I had the opportunity to spend the morning with my granddaughter, Luna. Her dad was off at work supervising the excavation of some ancient bones they’ve discovered on a work site and her mom was starting her second to the last month-long rotation before her graduation from medical school on May 16. Hooray. Aunt…
A Sad Event in My Neighborhood Today
This morning, a LA police officer was killed near my house. He and his partner were responding to a high priority call when their car was hit by a big rig that experienced brake failure on one of the steep roads in the Hollywood hills. That policeman died at the scene; his partner and the…
Helpful Article on Flash Fiction
Flash Fiction: What’s It All About? By Becky Tuch Flash Fiction: Stories under 2,000 words. Seems easy enough, right? Just get rid of rambling digressions, eliminate flashbacks, cut extraneous descriptions and presto! Mini-fiction nuggets! Actually, there’s a lot more to flash fiction than one might initially realize. Part poetry, part narrative, flash fiction–also known as…
Ash Wednesday
Ray and I went to the 8 am Mass today at St. Thomas the Apostle and emerged 30 minutes later with crosses on our foreheads formed from black ash. We were among about 20 people who chose to attend the earliest of the three Holy Day services offered today at St. Thomas. This was the…
20 Minutes a Day 