Category: Reflections on Writing

A Poetry Book That Pulls You In and Teaches You History

My daughter Rachael has introduced me to a book of poems from her poetry class at UCLA entitled Blue-Tail Fly by Vievee Francis. This is a wonderful volume of persona poems written in the voices of either real people or composites of people living from the pre-Mexican American War through the post-Civil War era. This book…

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The Joys of Writing “Flash” and Some Reading Recommendations

I currently am teaching an online course on Flash Fiction and Flash Memoir for Story Circle Network. This subject is close to my heart since flash is one of my favorite modes of writing. For the course, I have read a lot of short-shorts both fiction and memoir and have been reminded of just how…

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Weather and Its Influence on Personality

Summertime here in LA. It was over 100 degrees today and people all over the city were out in shops and malls and movie theaters in an attempt to escape the heat. Even driving in the car was cooler than being at home since most Angelinos don’t have air-conditioned homes. After all, most of the…

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Not So Good Day

I am feeling anxious this morning. First of all, I hadn’t expected that my student numbers would be down this year. At this point, I have three parents who have asked if their children can come every other week instead of every week, the first time in my thirteen years of doing this type of…

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Hope Springs Review

This afternoon, we went with family and friends to see the movie, Hope Springs starring Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones.  This is a story about a couple who has been married 32 years but who are disconnected emotionally and sexually from one another.  Steve Carrell plays their marriage/sex therapist and you watch as this…

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Similes: Trickier Than You Think

“Similes: Trickier Than You Think” isn’t exactly a title that brings most people running to read a blog post. Dear Lord, you might think, just how wacky has this poor woman gotten that she is now worrying herself silly about the difficulty of a simple figure of speech? Dear, dear, the poor thing needs a…

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Flash Essay: The Fun of Writing Personal Essay

I just completed teaching an online course for Story Circle Network entitled, “Writing the Personal Essay.” The course was five weeks long and each week the students were assigned reading material on a different type of essay, then required to write that type of essay by the end of the week. Just so that we…

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Flash Essay: Hank III at House of Blues

We went to hear Hank III tonight, son of Hank, Jr. And grandson to Hank Williams. We are big fans of III’s, mainly his original country music, but also his “hellbilly” music. He has a distinctive voice, a tight band,and songwriting talent. I struck up a conversation before the show with a guy behind me….

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Critical Components of Flash Fiction and Flash Nonfiction

Flash fiction and flash nonfiction differ clearly in content, but many of the needs are the same given the conciseness of the form. In an excerpt from The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Flash Fiction, Nathan Leslie in his article, “The “V” Word,” states, “By focusing on language, scene, voice, and character, my students…

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