Fear is that corrosive rock of despair, the opposite of “that thing with feathers.” It’s a feeling of disorientation. Space shifts. Time warps. I start thinking about crazy stuff, like noumenon vs. phenomena and questioning what reality really consists of.
My mother’s family hails from a historic town in Bavaria called Sulzbach-Rosenberg. Built on a massive igneous rock, the town consists of uphill and downhill cobble-stone streets. The original section dates from the 8th century, and was once a vital center for the Palatine dukes and counts. A yellow castle sits at the very top of the igneous rock and…
Every week a question is posted to get our writerly brains to think and respond, which usually brings something to mind that causes me to ponder further. This week it was why do you write? The answers are across the board, but I have yet to see one that states: I want to write a Pulitzer Prize winning book, become…
I admire those that self-publish. We have all heard about success stories. I’m happy for them and duly impressed. But it’s not me, at this time. I was delighted to take that route with my children’s books. I wanted total control over my books, including the illustrations. My goal was to benefit dogs and help instill the love of reading…
R.I.P. Barbara Koski Maxwell. Barbara was one of the most interesting and warmest people I have ever known. Over the course of two years we offered readings at local schools, libraries, and literary events. While I read, she drew sketches of the entranced children and handed it to them at the end of the reading. She was the rock star…
Memoir: In my words: a true slice of someone’s private life that carried profound meaning, created a change in perspective, and carries a universal meaning for others. Memoir is the author’s journey of a time or situation that is resolved in some fashion, at least by the end of the book.
On a bright summer day in 1953, Susanna Fornoff walked into the print shop where my father had worked as a typesetter ever since his 1947 release as a prisoner of war. She was looking for part-time work, to supplement her modeling assignments and serving meals at a local Gasthaus. She was hired. My father was smitten.
The wood ducks love to swim into our little cove and waddle into the yard to munch on the acorns our old live oaks drop in abundance. The drakes have gorgeous iridescent plumage with crested heads and distinctive white stripes from the eyes to the end of the crest. The hens are not colorful. Their plumage of browns intermingled with…
As the narrator, I have a roll to fill. The late (and great) Ursula K. Le Guin offers a story in her book on writing, Steering the Craft, that uses the analogy of a boat. Here’s my take on it: our readers climb into a boat with us to journey to the opposite shore.
As I look forward to 2021, different emotions assail me. Everyone can agree that 2020 has been a sad and frightening year. The whole world discovered it was in a battle. And the battle continues. But now we are over the shock and have girded our loins, determined to win.
My husband and I are packing to go back up to our cabin in the NC mountains for a few weeks. I'm hoping the leaves are red, yellow, and orange by now, my favorite color palette. I plan to sit in the dining room with its 360 degree view of the surrounding Tusquittee mountain range and add the finishing touches…
The magic of a book that talks directly to us is a feeling like no other. We are validated, soothed, yet excited to feel a part of something bigger than ourselves. Rebecca Solnit once said The object we call a book is not the real book, but its potential, like a musical score or seed. It exists fully only in the act of being read…
Occasional thoughts on just about anything.