Memoirous

  In Memoriam, [Ring out, wild bells] Alfred Lord Tennyson ,  1809  -  1892 Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,    The flying cloud, the frosty light:    The year is dying in the night; Ring out, wild bells, and let him die. Ring out the old, ring in the new,    Ring, happy bells, across the snow:    The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true. Ring out the grief that saps the mind    For those that here we see no more;    Ring out the feud of rich and poor, Ring in redress to all mankind. Ring out a slowly dying cause,    And ancient forms of party strife;    Ring in the nobler modes of life, With sweeter manners, purer laws. Ring out the want, the care, the sin,    The faithless coldness of the times;    Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes But ring the fuller minstrel in. Ring out fal...

 Snow predicted for tonight and into the New Year EMPATHY AND NEW YEAR James Schuyler A notion like that of empathy  inspires great distrust in us, because it connotes  a further dose of irrationalism and  mysticism. Lévi-Strauss Whitman took the cars all the way from Camden and when he got here or rather there, said, “Quit quoting,” and took the next back, through the Jersey meadows which were that then. But what if it is all, “Maya, illusion?” I doubt it, though. Men are not so inventive. Or few are. Not knowing a name for something proves nothing. Right now it isn’t raining, snowing, sleeting, slushing, yet it is doing something. As a matter of fact it is raining snow. Snow from cold clouds that melts as it strikes. To look out a window is to sense wet feet. Now to infuse the garage with a subjective state and can’t make it seem to even if it is a little like What the Dentist Saw a dark gullet with gleams and red. “You come to me at midnight” and say, “I...

Beyond Paradise, Christmas in Captivity, part 2 Well, Christmas under Covid is interesting. This new variant . . . I've stopped keeping count of which one we're on. Anyway, Christmas Day went well, but then after the gatherings I've not felt the best. Let's just say I got a lot of extra for Christmas. I spent much of the vacation in the basement when lo and behold a rapid test said I was negative, but another person in the household was SUPRISE! positive. For all those in isolation celebrating this season here is an excerpt from my first novel, Beyond Paradise-- (available in as a print book as well as digital format, eBook from Amazon, Nook, Smashwords, y'all!). ANOTHER EXCERPT Christmas in Captivity Christmas Day arrived—my second in the Philippines, my first in captivity. It came without store-bought presents, without Papa, Julie, or mother. Mother mostly lay in bed except for when I took her by the hand and led her to the shower, the toilet, or to meals. She ha...

 My dear one, a year ago  you came into this  masked world --and here we are-- still masked. For you it will seem no different than folks wearing glasses,  some do, some don't. It is  necessary--the masks. Your world will be different than mine, but you have love all around you, a wonderful mommy and daddy, and from your grandpa lots and lots of books, and  from grandma determination,          keep going.

  Download for FREE at Smashwords  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/725948 https://www.amazon.com/Flash-Memoir-Writing-Prompts-Flashing-ebook/dp/B0714K6B41/ a review at Amazon 5.0 out of 5 stars  Don't Create Without It! Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2017 While Jane Hertenstein’s book Flash Memoir is ostensibly geared toward writers, this book is a must-have for anyone who is creating art of any kind. Filled with amazing historical factoids (check out Hemingway’s lost valise or Wordsworth’s almost-permanent houseguest, Samuel Coleridge) as well as the writer’s personal examples of following her own advice, the main thrust of the book is to get the reader’s creativity flowing, and boy howdy, the author succeeds at that. Each little chapter or section describes something that can be used as a prompt for creativity, be it old postcards, newspaper headlines, websites filled with breathtaking photos, or basic, evocative stimuli such as certain smells or su...

  Beyond Paradise, Christmas excerpt 1 Well, Christmas under Covid is interesting. This new variant . . . I've stopped keeping count of which one we're on. Anyway, Christmas Day went well, but then after the gatherings I've not felt the best. Let's just say I got a lot of extra for Christmas. I spent much of the vacation in the basement when lo and behold a rapid test said I was negative, but another person in the household was SUPRISE! positive.  For all those in isolation celebrating this season here is an excerpt from my first novel, Beyond Paradise-- (available in as a print book as well as digital format, eBook from Amazon, Nook, Smashwords, y'all!). It is Christmas 1941--after the attack on Pearl Harbor the Philippines were targeted and the Japanese invaded the islands, slowly working their way down from Manila which capitulated (not the case at the end of the war where Filipinos and Americans fought corner to corner against the Japanese. The city was heavily...

 Download today at Smashwords FREE until Jan. 1, start 2022 off Write Right https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/588463 365 Affirmations for the Writer Writing is a journey. Every time we sit down to begin a piece or write the first chapter or the first line we are venturing into uncharted territory. We never know how it is going to turn out. Oh, we have a certain idea, like most pioneers or explorers. But, these journeys can take detours; we have to react to circumstances and often go with our gut. 365 Affirmations for theWriter  is about listening to those who have gone before us and letting them guide us with their insight, their own trials. They know the terrain, how harsh it can be; they know where we can find water, shade, and rest along the way. By reading what others have said, we can survey the path before us, count the cost, and plunge ahead. My motivation for compiling 365 Affirmationsfor the Writer is to offer light along the way. From day to day, week to week, we...

 Download today at Smashwords FREE until Jan. 1 https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/588463 365 Affirmations for the Writer Writing is a journey. Every time we sit down to begin a piece or write the first chapter or the first line we are venturing into uncharted territory. We never know how it is going to turn out. Oh, we have a certain idea, like most pioneers or explorers. But, these journeys can take detours; we have to react to circumstances and often go with our gut. 365 Affirmations for theWriter is about listening to those who have gone before us and letting them guide us with their insight, their own trials. They know the terrain, how harsh it can be; they know where we can find water, shade, and rest along the way. By reading what others have said, we can survey the path before us, count the cost, and plunge ahead. My motivation for compiling 365 Affirmationsfor the Writer is to offer light along the way. From day to day, week to week, we are getting further inside our w...

 This--a reprise from last Dec, 2020 NOW at Smashwords you too can learn how to write your flash memories: Flash Memories: Writing Prompts to Get You Flashing is FREE to Download at Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/725948 The Joy in the Journey  I remember as a little kid waiting in line for Santa. This is one of my earliest memories so I was very young. I must have been told who Santa was and that he was responsible for bringing my presents. I understood I had a duty to tell him what I wanted. So we showed up at the department store and rode the elevator up. We got off into a cottony world of sparkly snowflakes. We wandered through colored lights and fabricated gumdrops. We winded through what looked like a workshop manned by elves with jingle hats and bells on their toes. It seemed to take forever. Finally we made it to a studio where there was a camera and helpers, and sitting on a throne was a fat man in a red suit with a fake beard. The Big Kahuna. The mai...

365 Affirmations for the Writer is FREE through Smashwords from now until January 1, 2022 Start your year off with a BANG!  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/588463 Here is another FREE SAMPLE from 365 Affirmations for the Writer where I have paired an affirmation, writer's tip, or writer's quote with a prompt or suggestion to improve your own writing or--most importantly--to free your imagination: January 5 Outlines—Yes or No A lot of new writers assume you have to know where the story is going and that it flows out as molten gold. But really, sometimes you think you are going to one place, but then you decide that is dumb idea. Then you go somewhere else and it is a worse idea. But then you switch again and you might have a beautiful accident. ― Patrick Rothfuss, writer of epic fantasy, namely The Wise Man’s Fear Do you use an outline or go by instinct? Mindmapping is one such way to free associate. Rather than work consecutively or following a certain set of logic, mind...

 I’ve blogged about hearing thetrain serenade me in Eugene. The lonely sound accompanied me while I prepared dinner. I am bordered on two sides, north and south, here in Okemos by train tracks. We have all become aware of supply chain issues—as if I’ve ever used that phrase before 2021!—and now every time I hear the train whistle blow I think: some child will be getting that special toy for Christmas. Much like the storybook The Little Engine that Could where the good little boys and girls get their wish for sweets and fun things. I hear the whistle just as I’m settling into bed and it gives me a sense of peace—as if through the night things will keep going, the world doesn’t stop. Almost like God watching over us. The whistle is a thread that has followed me from Eugene to Okemos. Jack in his highchair or in his wagon or sitting in my lap having a story read will look up when he hears the train horn and purse his lips to make a high-pitch sound. He notices it, too. So when ...

Here is another FREE SAMPLE from 365 Affirmations for the Writer where I have paired an affirmation, writer's tip, or writer's quote with a prompt or suggestion to improve your own writing or--most importantly--to free your imagination: January 5 Outlines—Yes or No A lot of new writers assume you have to know where the story is going and that it flows out as molten gold. But really, sometimes you think you are going to one place, but then you decide that is dumb idea. Then you go somewhere else and it is a worse idea. But then you switch again and you might have a beautiful accident. ― Patrick Rothfuss, writer of epic fantasy, namely The Wise Man’s Fear Do you use an outline or go by instinct? Mindmapping is one such way to free associate. Rather than work consecutively or following a certain set of logic, mindmapping allows you to start with one idea and link it to another, even if there is no obvious connection. Some work with words and images, drawing pictures or icons or si...

 In the Shadow of Tintern Abbey is a piece I wrote 5 years ago on a bike ride from the northern tip of the UK to the very bottom, Land's End in Cornwall. You can read the article here https://indd.adobe.com/view/5b033832-ed48-45e9-8b8f-1b0dbb357dae?fbclid And consider ordering a print copy, the pictures are stunning-- The day I made it to Tintern Abbey I had ridden 73 miles. When I finally turned a corner and saw the grey-stone ribs of the ruined monastery, I knew I could rest.

  AMC 5.0 out of 5 stars A good book for writers Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2015 This is a lovely and helpful book. Sometimes just the right quote is all it takes to remind me that we writers are in this together--that it's hard for all of us, but that a writing life is a considered life and a terrific life. I came across a number of quotes in this book that I had never read before, almost all of them provocative and useful. I recommend this book to other writers to dip in and out of, for that little bit of inspiration and affirmation whenever you need it.

The winter sky here in Michigan is just beautiful, a Turner painting with soft colors and tattered clouds against a slate blue/gray background. Dark branches of trees silhouette the horizon—though bare, a kind of promise, spring and green. I often ride home into this sunset. Or complete darkness, with only car headlights glancing to and fro. The other night after an afternoon of snowfall, I made my way down Central Park to a busy slushy intersection and onto the sidewalk where my tires crunch crunch over the new fallen snow. If all this sounds like a Winter Wonderland then yes, but it is also terrifying. I’m on a bike. Fishtailing and constantly worried about slipping on ice. So last Tuesday when I awoke to get ready to ride to Grace’s house to babysit out the window in the near darkness of early morning was three inches of new snow. Oh my God. A salt truck went by in my complex so I steadied myself and put on over pants, zipped up my parka, fitted my balaclava over my head. De...

  Never too late: get inspired then consider buying/downloading (whatever you prefer both a book and an e-version) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Q5KBNNC/ref a review at Amazon 5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiration Galore Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2015 Verified Purchase This book is a miracle of inspiration for writers. I highly recommend it to anyone who even dabbles with the thought of getting stories down on paper. It may be the only encouragement you need to begin. A good book for writers Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2015 This is a lovely and helpful book. Sometimes just the right quote is all it takes to remind me that we writers are in this together--that it's hard for all of us, but that a writing life is a considered life and a terrific life. I came across a number of quotes in this book that I had never read before, almost all of them provocative and useful. I recommend this book to other writers to dip in and out of, for that little bit of ...

  Don't Create Without It! By StalkyReader on November 21, 2017 While Jane Hertenstein’s book Flash Memoir is ostensibly geared toward writers, this book is a must-have for anyone who is creating art of any kind. Filled with amazing historical factoids (check out Hemingway’s lost valise or Wordsworth’s almost-permanent houseguest, Samuel Coleridge) as well as the writer’s personal examples of following her own advice, the main thrust of the book is to get the reader’s creativity flowing, and boy howdy, the author succeeds at that. Each little chapter or section describes something that can be used as a prompt for creativity, be it old postcards, newspaper headlines, websites filled with breathtaking photos, or basic, evocative stimuli such as certain smells or sudden memories. The author then gives an example of how this prompt can be used, frequently using her own posts to illustrate her point. And what a collection of riches she offers, from exploring deserted or “ghost” houses, ...

 A Sweet Memory--originally published Dec. 5, 2014 Do you remember these? Every Christmas all four of us kids would find a Book of candy Life Savers in our stocking. Right away I’d eat my favorites—what were they?—most likely wintOgreen and cherry. Then I’d move onto secondary ones. Until all that were left in the “book” were butterscotch and rum-flavored rolls. They might stay bookmarked well into February or March. Sometimes my sister and I would make trades. Swap one of hers for one of mine. The boys most likely gobbled theirs down before New Years. We came to expect the Book of Life Savers. Even the year Mom was in the hospital, we recognized that familiar oblong box sticking out of the cuff of our knit stockings. Even after we left home for college and one or two of us might return home for the holiday there would be a Book of Life Savers waiting for us. For my parents it might have been a throw-away gift, an easy pick, something they didn’t have to put much thought or effort ...