Memoirous

This class has been one of the best things ever! And, I’ve done a lot of conferences and workshops.  https://www.storystudiochicago.org/advanced-writing-programs-at-storystudio-chicago/novel-in-a-year-ya-middle-grade-with-jame-klise/ I think it was the right things at the right time. First applying in a pandemic and then getting the grant from the city of Chicago. Then, Story Studio threw in a scholarship, making the whole thing obtainable. I, again, am taking this one payment at a time. But, the thing that has been so helpful is the peer workshoppers themselves. They are sooo supportive. We are actually a community, though remote. We do daily meetups online via Zoom to write together. This gets me out of bed in the a.m. (a two-hour time difference between Pacific and Central time) and accountable. If even just to chat for 15 minutes before making tea and getting started, I can check in and not feel so alone. Writing is a solitary task. There’s a quote attributed to Willia...

Question from a 4 th grade history quiz: Why did Washington cross the Delaware? Answer I filled in the blank with: To get to the other side. I was terrible at history. I could not tell a Roman Republic from a Roman Empire—apparently this is very important and, yes, I flunked this quiz also. Yet I was able to imagine history. Not like an abstract timeline, but the story in history. I could close my eyes and see the cave-dark origins of the Neanderthal, see the women walking on the prairie behind wagons into canyons of deep unknown. I saw the Little House on the Prairie! I played with Laura and Mary—and prayed with them when Jack their dog went missing. I was with Hemingway in the Italian Alps fighting and falling in love, over and over again, in Paris and Pamplona, Cuba and Key West. I can tell you stories. Right now I’m working on a revision of a YA historical novel where I’m trying to make it as authentic as possible. Hang in there with me as I’ve been slow...