It has been over a month since I have posted on my blog. I used to write four or five blog posts per month, and I hope to get back to doing that before long. I want to continue my Literary Texas series at some time. I love doing it, but the time involved in … Continue reading Checking In
Tag: Authors
BOOK RELEASE DAY!
It has finally arrived, the day Pelican Publishing/Arcadia releases my middle grade chapter book, Ranch Girl and the Orphan Lamb Adventure. I want to thank so many of you for your constant encouragement and sincere happiness for me. I especially, of course, thank God. I find writing to be hard work but a true labor … Continue reading BOOK RELEASE DAY!
Make Your Own Writing Retreat (or any retreat)
Writing is a challenge for me, and a joy, and darn hard work, and an accomplishment. I've spent a considerable amount of time writing the last few years, writing what I want to write about and getting back to the creative bent of my younger years before a husband, two sons, gainful employment, housework, social … Continue reading Make Your Own Writing Retreat (or any retreat)
Bookstores in August
Leaving any bookstore is hard, especially on a day in August, when the street outside burns and glares, and the books inside are cool and crisp to the touch;" Jane Smiley It is hot! The last several days, our old thermometer, hanging on the lone pole bringing electricity across a pasture or three to my … Continue reading Bookstores in August
Literary Texas: Sandra Cisneros
I am a woman, and I am a Latina. Those are the things that make my writing distinctive. —Sandra Cisneros In 2015, Texas State University's Alkek Library acquired Sandra Cisneros’ literary archive. The archive, housed at the Wittliff Collections, includes manuscripts, correspondence, diaries, journals, and numerous other items pertaining to her life and work, a … Continue reading Literary Texas: Sandra Cisneros
Writing About Writing
And this, our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.” —William Shakespeare W I have been in San Antonio much of the week and have wanted to write a Literary Texas post on Sandra Cisneros. Though Cisneros originally hailed from Chicago, … Continue reading Writing About Writing
Spring
Although fall is my favorite season, spring is none too shabby itself. In fact, when we are blessed with the generous rains we often are in spring, Central Texas explodes into lush greens and bursts into wild blues, yellows, reds, whites, and pinks along roadsides, parks, and throughout pastures. It is a glorious time of … Continue reading Spring
Why We Write
The very reason I write is so that I might not sleepwalk through my entire life. Zadie Smith I have just completed the Pike’s Peak Writer’s Conference in Colorado Springs. No, it was not atop the famous mountain. I am high-altitude and deep drop-offs averse, though admiring the snow-crested Pike’s Peak with my feet firmly … Continue reading Why We Write
Those Gentle Times
“In this modern world where activity is stressed almost to the point of mania, quietness as a childhood need is too often overlooked. Yet a child’s need for quietness is the same today as it has always been—it may even be greater—for quietness is an essential part of all awareness. In quiet times and in … Continue reading Those Gentle Times
Literary Texas: John Graves, Part 2
A limestone ledge on a stream near Hardscrabble, John Graves’ former ranch. “April and May can be magnificent with birdsong and wildflowers and greenery gone crazy, and if good rains come in late August or September, as they often do, early fall can be a sort of verdant second spring before frosts turn red and … Continue reading Literary Texas: John Graves, Part 2