If all goes as planned, Caring Lessons will come out on October 1, 2010, 16 weeks from today. (It may even come out a little sooner, but I'm doing my countdown on the original projection.) I've added another excerpt. See "Chapter 6 - Time-out" under Pages.
Category: memoir
The Greatest of These is Love – A Memory
Among the boxes I am sorting, I came upon memorabilia from my childhood that reminded me of when I was six, a tow-headed preacher’s kid riding my two-wheeler down the side walk of Montauk Highway on Long Island. In my right hand, I clutched a five-cent chocolate ice cream cone from The Dugout, a soda …
Countdown – 17 Weeks Until Publication!
If all goes as planned, Caring Lessons will come out on October 1, 2010, 17 weeks from today. (It may even come out a little sooner, but I'll do my countdown on the original projection.) So each Friday from now on, I'll be adding another excerpt from one or two chapters. See today's excerpt from …
Marrying John Deere
In my current sort-the-stored-boxes life, I found an official note on a 5 ½” x 8 ½” sheet of slightly yellowed paper: "YOUR WEIGHT at the 1975 ILLINOIS STATE FAIR 001190 11:15AM Au 09 75 Compliments of the Department of Agriculture." So in 35 years, I've gained 35 pounds. A pound a year. A pound …
A Bird-licious Day in Chicago
Outside cafes are finally open in Chicago. That must mean summer is around the corner. Here I share lunch with a friend and a bird who loves the crusty, yeasty, yummy rolls under the awesome white awning at Smith & Wollensky on the Chicago River. A tour boat on the Chicago River. A favorite summer …
Give Up Engagement Gift???
As I recall, my husband couldn’t afford a diamond when he proposed to me a year before marriage. Instead, for an engagement present, he gave me a set of Noritake china. That was in 1961, 49 years ago. I used it for a few years after our marriage when we had “company.” When the kids …
Once a Nurse, Always a Nurse
I'm often asked if I miss nursing. Yes, I do. I don't miss getting up early and going to work. Or the evening and weekend work while teaching. But I think when you're a nurse, nursing becomes a part of you. As much a part as your hand or heart. Last week, I had an …
Drowning in Paper
It's bad enough drowning in drafts of my memoir, but now I'm needing to go through 17 boxes of old papers that I stored when we moved to our condo five years ago. No wonder I'm procrastinating long enough to complain about it. I wonder what other people do when they finish a book and …
Creative Nonfiction’s Popularity – Why?
With the Spring 2010 issue of "Creative Nonfiction," this literary journal became a magazine. Lee Gutkind started the journal in 1993 when there were few creative nonfiction journals around. And now, as a magazine, it will be expanding to include more than essays. There will be articles on craft, literary developments, profiles, and more. So …
Writers: Start a Writing Circle
Writing Tip: Start your own Writing Circle. Near Christmas the first year I was writing my memoir, I faced a few weeks between classes at the Newberry Library when I spotted a notice on a bulletin board for a writing group for people over 60. I adjusted my trifocals and peered up to read the …
Write Along with Me 