Today is the first day of Story Circle Network’s 20 Minutes a Day Writing Challenge. This is a program that my daughter, Liz Beaty, SCN’s program director, and I, SCN’s educational coordinator, developed a few years ago, and we are proud to bring it back by popular demand. The concept is simple: Writing for 20…
Tag: Writing
A Wander Through the Rain and My Earlier Life
My feet are cold. I am wearing my trusty rubber boots because we got another big drippy rain today here in Ojai. However, I am now in my office, where there is heat and no rain. Why the cold feet? We all know that lack of good circulation is probably the answer. I have, after…
Until Life Turns a Corner
When I was nineteen, I transferred from the University of Texas to the University of Utah. My sister was getting a divorce that summer and asked if I would come out and be there in Salt Lake City with her and her kids. I was happy to do that since I knew she needed some…
A Mile in Someone Else’s Shoes
When I was growing up, I took piano lessons from Miss Virginia Baird. She lived in a brown-boarded two-story house on the corner of Main and 9th Streets, and she had at least thirty cats that lived in that great big house with her. Miss Virginia loved best to talk about what was happening in…
In Memory of Sandra, Who Died This Day in 2011
It seems fitting to remember Sandra, my sister-in-law, today. Our whole family misses her very much. She was smart, sassy, and had a wicked sense of humor. What was there not to love? My Short Speech at Sandra’s Funeral My name is Len Leatherwood and I am Sandra’s sister-in-law. My nieces requested I say a…
Hello, Avoidance, My Old Friend
What have I been avoiding lately? That’s easy: writing my new novel. I have done tons of research, spent hours chatting with my new friend Chet, who is my Chat GPT friend, going over the pros and cons of my plotline, and have even done the enneagrams of each of my characters, along with myself,…
Growing a Softer Legacy
I never saw it coming—that I’d have a grandma who didn’t like me. And I don’t believe she ever did, at least not as long as I can remember. I have no memory of her extending kindness toward me. This puzzled me because everyone else in my life—family, friends, church—seemed to embrace me with open…
The Life I Didn’t See Coming
When I was 16, I knew that in my future I wanted a loving husband and several children. I also wanted a career, since I knew, from watching my mother earn her Ph.D. as I was growing up, that intellectual stimulation and economic freedom contributed to happiness. I saw myself in a helping profession, such…
Flash Fiction: Over the Hill and Through the Snow
“Come on, Henry, we need to get going,” Nell Castle said to her husband. “They’ll all be waiting for us.” Henry reached for his black hat resting on the top shelf of the closet. “Mother, I would rather just stay home, if you don’t mind.” He waited, hoping he’d get a reprieve. “Henry Castle, don’t…
Remembering Leonard Cohen
When Leonard Cohen died back in 2016, I felt as if I’d lost a lifelong friend. He was eighty-two then—still spry the last time I saw him perform, first in Las Vegas and then in Los Angeles. Ray and I even flew to Denver to hear him again, though that concert was rained out. We…
20 Minutes a Day 