Recently I walked into my usual coffee house and was looking for a place to sit and work when a woman recognized me and said hello. We chatted for a bit and she said, “Do you do your writing here?” “Almost every day,” I said. “Wow.” She looked truly astonished. “I assumed you worked in…
A speech impediment plagued my five-year old self. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t pronounce my name. The letter L was impossible, the R tricky. My name, Laurel, required mastery of one or the other. The sound that tumbled out of my mouth in an untidy heap was not my name. Awkward, mumbling…
Some of the best gifts come in small packages! Whether you are looking for the perfect stocking stuffer for the writer in your life, or you’re a writer compiling your own suggestions for Santa, here are 10 great ideas for wordsmith-worthy stocking stuffers! The perfect T-shirt. This Café press selection allows the writer wearing it…
If you were to ask me to describe the Oklahoma City bombing to you, I’d be able to give you a very accurate picture of what happened that day. The building had a gaping hole. Cars and trees were on fire. Ash-covered people wondered aimlessly like zombies. Police, fire and ambulances came rushing to the…
A little while ago I blogged about the things I wish I’d known when I started writing. Now I’d like to unpack each one. The first to discuss is Seeking Constructive Criticism. Most of us have dreamed our version of the idyllic writer’s life. For me it’s a cozy but spacious cabin with panoramic…
I’m sure you’re all familiar with NaNoWriMo, which has become the best-known writing event in the nation. People all across the country commit to writing a novel during the month of November, and many claim they have succeeded. I have mixed feelings about NaNoWriMo. I’ll admit it. I like anything that encourages writers to sit down and…
Even though she’d lived through the horrors of war and the Nazi occupation, by her teens Audrey Hepburn was an accomplished ballerina. Her family had moved her to Holland in hopes of keeping her safe, but the Germans had overrun the country, destroying villages and exacting horrific and sadistic executions. Not yet an adult, young…
Here’s a brief history of how I decided to become a writer: I was in college and, forced to declare a major, I decided to go with Mass Communications. It seemed to be a nice umbrella of a major, with lots of post-graduation options. Plus, I liked to talk. Somewhere between English I and a…
It’s turning into a no-excuses sort of year. Not because I haven’t had plenty of excuses, but because, no matter what the world throws at me, if I want to be a writer, I have to write. Even when the universe is hurling trials like hail in an Oklahoma thunderstorm, if you want to be…
In 1968, composer Alex North walked into the New York City premiere of the latest film he had been commissioned to score, 2001: A Space Odyssey. He was fresh off Oscar nominations for Sparticus, Cleopatra, The Agony and the Ecstasy and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? It was another chance for this extraordinary composer’s talent…