I am sitting here in LA with eyelids that will barely stay open. We woke up at 3:15 am to make a 6 am flight from DFW airport, which is an hour and fifteen minutes from Sherman. We flew to Phoenix, then on to Long Beach via US Air. I had students today so that’s…
Tag: timed writing
When Life Changes Without Warning
This morning, I headed across the street here in Texas to see how progress was going on our renovation for what we call the Dimmit House (that’s the family who owned the house the longest way-back-when). I noticed that my husband, Ray, was over talking to our neighbors, a young couple who moved to our…
“Restore” in More Ways Than One
Today I struck up a conversation with a young African-American woman working at the McKinney “Restore,” a favorite spot of ours when shopping for building materials. I have noticed this young woman on previous visits because she is always attentive and proactive with the customers, as well as efficient. In fact, I’ve said to myself…
Scene 3 of Story
The distant shot-gun blast caused both Zachary’s and his mother to jump in surprised. “Oh dear,” Mary Catherine said, rushing over and sliding the bolt across the back door. “Zachary, run quick and lock the front door. Who knows what kind of hooligans are going to be out and about because of this disaster!” Zachary…
Thoughts on This story I’ve Been Writing
I am writing a first draft story that people are reading in its first draft form. This is good in that I get encouragement as I proceed; it’s not so good because I think of a new idea after the installment has gone out and I don’t quite know how to correct what I’ve just…
2nd Scene of Story
Zachary watched as Sadie slipped into the back seat of his father’s Pierce Arrow alongside her grandmother. He and his mother stood on the back porch and waved as they drove down the road in the opposite direction from downtown. “Oh, my Lord,” Mary Catherine sighed. “I can’t imagine the pain our sweet Johanna is…
1st Scene of Story
It was 4 pm on a mild afternoon in May of 1930 and the small Texas town of Sherman had gone from drowsy to wild with rage in only a few hours. A colored man had reportedly raped a farmer’s wife and there was talk that he had mutilated her, as well, and that she…
A Story Beginning about the Sherman Riot of 1930
I have been working with a student on the phone for four hours, helping him with two essays for history at UCLA. It is now midnight. I can’t say that I will write for 20 minutes today. Instead, I will simply say that I have been writing all evening and I am pretty much pooped….
Does Media Make Us Happy?
I recently saw an article that said that Facebook causes people to feel less content because they tend to compare their lives to others. Along that same vein, I was helping a student tonight work on a paper based on a book whose premise is that Americans have shifted from family-centered to society-centered primarily through…
Web Problems and Miley Cyrus
I believe my blog posts have not been showing up for the past week on Facebook. I switched blog designs on WordPress and I suspect that this is the culprit. I did write my blogs on almost all the past 7 days, and they can be accessed at lenleatherwood.wordpress.com. I contemplated reposting them on Facebook,…
20 Minutes a Day 