Moving Toward Publication: Beta Readers and Book Design on My Work-in-Progress
It’s a scary time for me right now—I’ve sent my current manuscript out to the first people beyond my critique group. In writers’ parlance, these people are called beta readers. The book isn’t done—it can still be changed—but it’s far enough along that major revisions would be painful and, for independent authors such as me, […]
Stories I Couldn’t Tell Before: I Had to Marry To Get a Car
There are disadvantages to being the oldest child. Although the theory is that oldest children get more of their parents’ attention, this isn’t always something kids relish. And sometimes being the first kid to raise certain issues means parents haven’t thought through their responses yet. In my case, I remember my parents as graduate students […]
One Year Later: Changes in Our Neighborhood
I’m rushing this post a bit, because we didn’t move into our new home until almost the end of July last year. But we are in the middle of warranty checks on the house (the builder provided a one-year warranty), so I’m thinking about all the changes we’ve seen over the past year. Who could […]
Thursday Is the New Friday . . . If Any Day Is
Friday evening has always been the time I saved for my own enjoyment. All through college and law school, I refused to study on Friday evenings, except during finals week. Middlebury didn’t have much television to offer before the dorms were wired for Internet, but various organizations showed movies for fundraisers almost every night of […]
Blessings and Hope As the Pandemic Rages On
After my rant last week about having to cook, which I admit is a trifling complaint in the face of everything else happening in the world, I decided I needed a countervailing positive post. Because, really, I shouldn’t complain about my life. A few months ago, I posted a list of things that were going […]
Drive-In Movies
I’ve probably been to drive-in movies less than ten times in my entire life. But they have made an impression on me. Not for what movies we watched (other than Ghostbusters, I don’t even remember which movies I saw at a drive-in), but because of the experience. My parents took my siblings and me to […]
I Am Tired of Cooking
Occasionally on this blog, I have posted some of my favorite recipes. Readers will intuit pretty quickly that these are easy recipes. And my modifications to the original recipes make them easier yet. I do not like to cook. I have never liked to cook. Not since my brother wrecked the banana cream pie I […]
Celilo Falls: The Columbia River As It Used To Be
As I mentioned in a recent post, the river cruise my husband and I were supposed to take in May was canceled. Periodically, I search “river cruises” and moon over the itineraries, thinking of future trips. Where might we go to escape the current boredom of life at home? So far, most cruise lines are […]
Lake o’ the Woods
This is another post about lakes. Throughout my life I have vacationed on many lakes, most notably Coeur d’Alene Lake and Priest Lake in Idaho, Lake of the Ozarks and Table Rock Lake in Missouri, the North Shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota, and the Door County peninsula on Lake Michigan in Wisconsin. But my […]
I Wore a Skirt to Santa’s Village, But I Wouldn’t Wear One Now
When my brother and I visited our grandparents in Pacific Grove, California, they always took us on a day trip to Santa’s Village outside Santa Cruz. Santa’s Village was a miniature Disneyland with a Christmas theme. Even though it was the middle of summer, we could sit on Santa’s lap and tell him what we […]