Thank you, my friends, for your lovely support. Ray, Cordelia (our Corgi) and I really appreciate your kind words. Cordie had a rough night with a major blow-out at 2 am that took until 3:00 to completely clean up. Ray and I both thought she might be dying since she was so limp and exhausted….
Category: Writing
One of Those Tough Days
Today has been a tough day. First, our Corgi, Cordelia, was diagnosed with pancreatitis and is one sick puppy. We will go to the vet again tomorrow for the third day in a row and, hopefully, start seeing a major improvement in her health. Fingers are crossed. Also, today, we heard back from the ENT…
Teaching A Flash Nonfiction Class for Story Circle Network
I’ve just started teaching an online class on Flash Nonfiction class for Story Circle Network. It’s a small class of six women and we’re using The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Nonfiction: Advice and Essential Exercises from Respected Writers, Editors, and Teachers edited by Dinty W. Moore. This is a great book…
RIP Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison’s Beloved is one of my favorite books of all time. This book shook my world in a way that no other book describing the evils of slavery ever had before. The fact that a woman would rather kill her children then have them taken back into slavery helped me to understand just how…
A List of Things I Know Just From Living This Long
I wrote this list a few years back, but found it tonight and wanted to reshare it. I have been wedding dress shopping with daughter Liz all afternoon and I am seriously beat. So, please read this list of some of the wisdom I’ve gleaned from living and add any truths you’ve learned in the…
Arriving in Ojai With Our “New” 1953 Spartan
We are back home after a whirlwind trip to Sacramento that started yesterday morning at 5:30 in Ojai and ended at 11 tonight in LA. We have successfully delivered a 42-foot Spartan to our orange grove, navigating over 720 miles and managed to climb up 4183 feet at the Tejon Pass and then gingerly descend….
Up North, Preparing to Bring a Vintage Trailer Back to the Orange Grove
Ray and I arrived in Sacramento today in early-afternoon after leaving Ojai at 5:40 this morning. We are here for less than 24 hours to pick up a 1953 Spartan Imperial mansion “park-model” trailer, which was designed to be used as a home rather than for vacation. These trailers were popular in the post-World War…
Similes: Walking That Tightrope Between Profound and Cheesy
I recently came upon a book written in 1925 entitled, “Similes and Their Use” by Grenville Kleiser, who was an instructor at Yale Divinity School, and the author of several books including, “Training for Authorship” and “Great Speeches and How to Make Them.” In this book on similes, Mr. Kleiser has gathered a large number…
The Third Draft of My Flash Fiction Piece: Night Time Visitation
Hi all. I know this might be tiresome for many but I have been revising this short piece of fiction for several hours now and have decided to post it instead of writing something else on my blog tonight. The first four paragraphs of the story are much the same, but then the story takes…
A Glimpse into My Day Today
I have a date with Ray in 20 minutes so I have to get moving on my writing tonight. We are going to sit propped up with pillows on our bed, eat popcorn, drink a smoothie and watch tv. I don’t want to be late for that! I had a writing group today at our…
20 Minutes a Day 