This week I—long an ardent Facebook user—decided to post on a limited basis for the indefinite future. Oh, it was time. Past time, in fact. My posts, dealing mostly with books and words and writing, weren't engaging the majority of folks on my friends' list. Only when I posted a photo my sister had taken of a cute animal or a photo of myself from a time when I was more daring did I get any reaction. My conclusion? What interests me no longer has an audience on Facebook, even

I've had a bit of writer's block of late. Many are the reasons, but my emphasis herein must be on the process of how writers overcome it or, at least, how they lure the muse to work her necessary magic. I read that one of my favorite writers, John Updike, never had writer's block. His output of novels, poems, and essays serves as evidence. I'm no Updike, but I have published a book, Babe in the Woods , as well as poems and essays. And the desire is always there to get back to

Published in Constellations: A Journal of Poetry and Fiction v.15: Invisibility

Recently, I saw a post on social media that linked to an old song, "Things I'd Like to Say," by a group named New Colony Six. And by "old," I mean one that is 50-some years old, having charted on Billboard's Top 100 in 1969. But sometimes those old songs convey wisdom in an indelible way. "Things I'd Like to Say" was a break-up record—maybe that's not a true genre like pop or rock or country, but it is a recognizable one. Even break-up songs have sub-genres: "These Boots Were

If you read my previous post, you'll note that I bought a used library book— The Genteel Tradition and the Sacred Rage —that was distinctive for having never been checked out. The unstamped library card was still on the inside back cover. I recently bought another used library book, the one featured above: The Expense of Vision: Essays on the Craft of Henry James by Laurence Bedwell Holland. It, too, is a library discard. But why? Too old? (Copyright 1964). Too esoteric? (Who

One thing I've learned from social media: Just because I wrote a book doesn't mean everyone else wants to write a book—or will write a book. Nor do they want to be reminded of the fact that they have no interest in becoming a artist, selling a song, or performing on Broadway. They're happy the way they are. Or seemingly happy. If we believe the message of Edgar Guest's doggerel below, that's the way of the world. And inasmuch as most people don't want to be told to act upon t

I remember the day my father took me and my sister to a shady area in the woods close to a creek. We were going fishing with the...

Want to feel empowered? Choose not to “like” a friend’s social media post. Oh, I know. That sounds like sour grapes. Someone didn’t get...

January 14, 2025

The Orchards Poetry Journal, Winter 2024

If you’re an author published by an independent publisher, you are responsible for most of your book’s promotion and marketing. With the...

I’ve changed my mind about people’s heartfelt desire to write the book within them. They’ll never do it. And I need to quit encouraging...

“And she tried to fancy what the flame of a candle is like after the candle is blown out, for she could not remember ever having seen...

Originally published in Women Writers, Women's Books, June 7, 2023 https://booksbywomen.org/facing-the-blank-canvas-have-the-self-confide...

Are you inadvertently boring your readers because of your reliance on mainly two sentence styles? Those styles are the compound sentence...

In addition to writing my debut novel and several essays, I have always loved writing poetry. Perhaps my favorite poem from among those I...

Photo by Victoria Rodriguez from Pexels One of the most compelling articles I read last year was titled “on the inability to create...

Let’s face it: Martha Stewart makes perfect cupcakes. But that’s not the only thing she’s good at. Until it lost its news value, Martha...

In my last blog, I mentioned “too much” girls, ones who were too loud, too this, too that. And I saluted them for their passion, their...

When you’re a writer, the most wonderful feeling is getting your manuscript accepted by a publisher and seeing it take shape as a...