Tasting Your Memories
Later this year my husband and I will celebrate our 35th anniversary. We started dating, got serious, and were married all in 1977, so I’ll be celebrating 35th anniversaries of major events in our relationship all year. Last month was the 35th anniversary of our first date. No one remembered it but me. My husband […]
A Six Month Journey in One Day
As I write this, I am visiting family in Washington State, not too far from the end point of the Oregon Trail. I left my home in Kansas City, Missouri, very near Independence – one of several jumping off points for the early emigrants. The rainy spring weather in the Pacific Northwest reminds me of […]
“Family Recipe” anthology now available!
My book Family Recipe: Sweet and saucy stories, essays and poems about family life has now been published by Rickover Publishing. The paperback is available through CreateSpace Amazon And the ebook is available in two formats: Kindle (MOBI) Nook (EPUB) This book would make a wonderful accompaniment to an Easter basket or Mother’s Day present. I […]
Achieving our Dreams by Telling Our Stories . . . to Ourselves and Our Loved Ones
I’ve recently read two articles that made me think about the importance of telling our stories to ourselves and to our close family members. If we don’t talk about our dreams, how can our loved ones support us? The first article I saw was a blogpost by Mary Jo Asmus of Aspire Collaborative Services, entitled “A […]
Four Tips for Writing Scenes with Many Characters
On a LinkedIn writing group board recently, someone asked how to write a scene in a novel with many characters arguing about an emotional business decision. I’ve been in meetings like that, so I understood the problem both as a participant and as a writer. It is difficult to write scenes with groups of people […]
Tools for Writing Historical Fiction
Writing descriptions is not something that comes naturally to me. I much prefer writing dialogue. But when writing historical fiction, writing about place is critical. In my historical novels, I have to recreate a world that disappeared long before the lifetimes of my readers. How have I found information about what life was like along […]
Stories Are the Heart and Soul of Communication
Heidi Cohen writes a good blog offering Practical Marketing Advice. Her February 13 post, 13 Ways Stories Support Social Media Marketing, contains good information for writers. Heidi says that stories are the heart and soul of social media, but I would argue stories are the heart and soul of any communication. When we share our […]
My “Family Recipe” anthology coming soon!
My anthology of short stories, essays and poems will be published and available soon. Here is a sample essay, “Normally Dysfunctional,” which was first published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: All in the Family. I hope you enjoy it. Normally Dysfunctional “At least you’re not my real mother!” My daughter’s words interrupted my tirade. I […]
Two Ends of the Trail
I’ve lived at both ends of the Oregon Trail. I grew up in eastern Washington State, near the site of the Whitman Mission. The story of the Whitman Massacre was part of my childhood. I now live in Kansas City, Missouri, near Independence — one of the main jumping off points for the Oregon Trail. […]
What is Story?
This blog is about story and history — my story, the stories in my historical and contemporary writing, and the stories of the world as it was and is. The French word “histoire” can be used to mean both fictional story and factual history. What does it say about the writer and the reader when the […]