I’ll confess that I usually switch on the television while I eat my morning cereal. Yesterday, HBO was showing the movie “Titanic” in my breakfast time slot. I’ve seen the movie a dozen times, but somehow it never gets old. There are so many aspects of the tragedy to contemplate, but the movie seems to … Continue reading
Filed under Writing …
U.S. Women’s Soccer Team Wins Gold – A Title IX Memoir
I love women’s soccer, but I usually don’t like to watch it. It just stings too much that my generation didn’t have the chance to play for a national team. Today was the exception. I finally watched…and the U.S. women won gold! I’ve been working on my book this evening and happened to read over … Continue reading
Library Book Sales – A Treasure Trove for Biographies and Memoirs
I missed my hometown library’s book sale in Newtown, Connecticut this year. 120K books for sale, and I missed it – darn! A few weeks later I happened to visit the Martin Luther King Library in San Jose, California. The downtown library of the 10th largest U.S. city is about a zillion times bigger than … Continue reading
Aurora, CO Shooting Victims – Help Us Remember You!
Anderson Cooper was in Aurora, CO tonight, interviewing the families of the shooting victims. I was particularly struck by the interview with the father of one of the shooting victims. Alex Teves, 24, was killed in the shooting. Mr. Teves described his son in the most loving terms imaginable, but also threw down the gauntlet … Continue reading
Writing a Memoir, Biographer or Artist?
I received feedback on my manuscript about a month ago, that I needed to provide a lot more background about my parents to explain why my childhood was both so fun and funny. One reviewer (thanks Jen!) suggested that I explain why my father was such a good cook and why I grew up in … Continue reading
Hollywood Must Need Writers!
I went to see “The Amazing Spider-Man” last night. I had assumed that I would see a continuation of the other Spider-man films. Nope, “The Amazing Spider-Man” reverted back to the beginning, with hapless Peter Parker encountering a spider. It appears that a super hero’s daily life of fighting crime, thwarting a nemesis, or saving … Continue reading
Why We Write
A friend at the California Writer’s Club suggested that I subscribe to two magazines. His recommendations were “Poets & Writers,” and “Writer’s Digest.” Of the two, only “Poets & Writers” was available on the Kindle, so that’s the one I picked to get started reading about writers. It turns out that there’s a “Why We … Continue reading
Yardwork – A Lost Art?
I drove out of my street in Connecticut yesterday (Sunday). I don’t think that I saw anyone working in their yards. My childhood was much different. Everyone spent the weekends mowing the yards, tending to flowers, gardening vegetables, working on their house, or taking care of farm animals. It’s different now, the landscapers pull up … Continue reading
Manuscript Review at Wesleyan Writer’s Conference
I spent three days at the Wesleyan writer’s conference last week. My manuscript review went well, as I received the objective feedback that I needed. The reviewer, Jay O’Shea, recommended that I study the humorists as there is a structure for humor that involves building tension before resolving that tension humorously. I was given (voluntary) … Continue reading
