In February 2018, when I began writing my current novel, I speculated about what historical events might be featured in the book. I’m now in the polishing phase, and this post is an update on what has in fact made it into the novel’s plot. The Oregon Land Donation Act […]
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The Value of Critique Groups Redux: Norman Ledgin and the Sedulous Writers Group
Last week my critique group lost a member, Norman Ledgin. Ninety-year-old Norm had been ailing for months and had not been able to join us in person. But until just days before his death, he faithfully printed out our submissions, marked them up in his bold black pen, and returned […]
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Learning to Type
I wrote recently about my 8th-grade graduation in June 1999 and my parents’ absence for that event. Their absence, and in particular my mother’s inability to drive me places, caused me further consternation that summer. I had decided to enroll in a summer school class on typing at the high […]
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My 750th Post and an Update on Early Guest Bloggers
I was surprised to get a notice from WordPress.com recently congratulating me on my 9th anniversary on the site. I guess I did register with them back in 2010, though the first blog I kept was anonymous, and has since been taken off public view. I started my current blog […]
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Writing Contests: Feedback and Validation . . . And a Plug for OWFI and KCWG
I wasn’t able to go to the Oklahoma Writers Federation Inc. (OWFI) writing conference earlier this month. I’ve been several times in prior years, and I always get something out of it. (See here and here for earlier posts about OWFI conferences.) But I did submit several pieces to the […]
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Oregon Spectator, May 22, 1851
Sometimes when I’m stuck on my historical novels about Oregon Territory, I go out to the Oregon Spectator newspaper for the month that I’m writing about and look for inspiration on what was actually on the minds of citizens of the day. I didn’t know what to write in today’s […]
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An Ongoing Search for My Mother
I’ve written before that I spent the first thirty years of my life trying not to be like my mother, and the next thirty realizing how much we were alike. And now that I’m over sixty? I’m trying to find my mother, who died when I was fifty-eight. Mother and […]
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More on Slow Communications in the Frontier Days
As I work on my current novel, I am mired again in the vagaries of the mail system in 1850-51. I wrote a post on this topic when I was working on Now I’m Found, in which letters between the characters provided many of the plot’s turning points. In my […]
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Oversharing on Social Media: Where Do You Land?
I have family and friends who span the spectrum in their usage of social media. Some people post several times a day, while others refuse even to have a Facebook or Instagram or Twitter account. They might deign to have a LinkedIn account, but only because their professional contacts demand […]
Continue readingMy Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
I remember reading Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, by Judith Viorst, to my kids when they were young. At the time, I was a working mother in my thirties, and I was sure my days were more terrible and horrible than any kid’s could be. […]
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