‘it had come about exactly the way it happened in books.’
-agatha christie
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art credit: tom gauld
erma bombeck’s writer’s conference
Mar5
Tag Archives: writing
Aug5
rainbow cat.
1941 newspaper rainbow cat breaking news
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oh, how I would love to write little articles like this in a community newspaper.
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when I first moved to Ann Arbor, we had a person who wrote a ‘local crime’ column
where they listed the week’s ‘crimes,’ such as:
– a robbery of a university student on the street of 2 pencils and $2.41
-a police call of someone possibly being attacked, but what turned out to be the screams of two people watching a horror film
the crime reporter would read the police blotter each week and report out, excellent work.
—
in another community paper
in a tiny local town
I read ‘sandy’s corner’
where sandy would share her personal recipes
the one I happened to read was for a
‘baked potato’
does not get any better than that.
—
if I had to report on unusual pets such as the rainbow cat above, well…
the sky’s the limit!
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At the “Emerging Mind of Community Journalism” conference in Anniston, Ala., in 2006, participants created a list characterizing community journalism: community journalism is intimate, caring, and personal; it reflects the community and tells its stories; and it embraces a leadership role.
If you want more of a definition, I’m afraid it’s like when someone asked Louie Armstrong for a definition of jazz. The great Satchmo is reputed to have replied something like this: ‘Man, if you have to ask, it won’t do me any good to try to explain.’ You know community journalism when you see it; it is the heartbeat of American journalism, journalism in its natural state.” — Jock Lauterer
Jan26
more fun.
(not me, but we both have glasses and enjoy candles, coffee, and blogging)
—
‘blogging is different from both journal-writing and writing for print.
it’s more fun than either of those.
the freedom to write whatever I want
and the unmediated connection with readers are the payoff.’
*kate christensen
* Kate Christensen is an American novelist. Her essays, articles, reviews, and stories have appeared in many anthologies and periodicals, including The New York Times Book Review, Bookforum, Elle, The Wall Street Journal, Vogue, Food & Wine, Cherry Bombe, and The Jewish Daily Forward.
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image credit: pinterest
Jul15
‘i think hope and magic are probably connected. ‘ – Kate DiCamillo
thanks to the library consortium, and the detroit public libraries
i recently had the pleasure of attending an online talk
featuring one of my favorite authors, kate dicamillo
just as friendly and full of whimsy as i had imagined
she talked about how she got her ideas
for stories and characters
how they became a part of her
i’ve loved her books for years
she writes for children of all ages
in the last few years i’ve read some of them again
with new eyes and life experience
i’ve been even more taken with them
each filled with hope and joy and spirit
characters who refuse to be anything other than who they are
and who, against the odds, never surrender
she has such a brilliant magic to her writing.
—
‘i like to think of myself as a storyteller.’
*kate dicamillo
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*Kate Dicamillo has written 30+ bestselling books, beloved by children and adults in touch with their inner eight-year-old, for two decades, including Because of Winn-Dixie, The Tale of Despereaux, The Magician’s Elephant, Flora & Ulysses, and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Some of these have been turned into operas and movies. Her new books in 2024 include the middle grade novel Ferris and Orris and Timble: The Beginning. She is a rare two-time winner of the Newbery Medal.
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below is a link to a post i wrote not long ago, about one of my very favorite books of hers, ‘the miraculous journey of edward tulane’, which was beautiful and moved me to tears.
Feb27
word after a word.
someone sure has a lot to say
not sure exactly what that is yet
but i think
someone has to pay something.
—
“a word after a word after a word is power.”
― m
― m
Feb18
how i see it.
like me when driving at night, or writing, if you added in a pair of glasses and fingers crossed,
knowing i’ll get there somehow, not sure exactly when, and just trusting the process
—
‘writing is like driving a car at night.
you can see only as far as your headlights,
but you can make the whole trip that way.”
-e.l. doctrow
Feb15
how do you begin?
how interesting to see how different cultures/languages might start their books. the last one is pure fun.
how do stories start in your culture/language?
—
how some have responded:
Hungarian tales mix a lot of them, but my favourite is like: “Once upon a time, where it wasn’t, far beyond the glass mountain, where the short-tailed piglet roams, there lived a(n)….”
My mother used to say “When Donkeys wore high hats and Hyde Park was a flower pot “
Romanian : “There was once, as if never, because if it weren’t, the story wouldn’t be told”
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“we are the storytelling animal. “
-salman rushdie
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source credits: StoreyBook reviews, erma bombeck writers workshop
Jan31
secondhand.
DETERMINED:
manoj is proudly destined to put his name on the list of guinness book of world records.
he can write A-Z in 6 seconds using both his hands.
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i’m not quite there yet, but sometimes my ideas spring up so quickly that i really wish i had his super power.
instead, i write notes with one hand, on any scrap, napkin, rock, or available writing surface.
even though i’m only using one hand, trying to decipher it later is not always easy.
good thing i’m also into puzzles.
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“i only wish i could write with both hands, so as not to forget one thing while I am saying another.”
*-teresa of avila,
*also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, a Carmelite nun and prominent Spanish mystic and religious reformer.
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photo credit: usha wagle gautam, gulf times
Jan22
blogging is my cardio.
so this happened:
Happy Anniversary with WordPress.com!
You registered on WordPress.com 12 years ago.
Thanks for flying with us. Keep up the good blogging.
Jan4
words on a page.
ten years ago
this surprise postcard
appeared in my mailbox
from a former student
now far away
addressed to peaches
my affectionate nickname
sent to me
when she was seven not yet eight
her only message
a beautiful poem
summed up
life
in three lines
love is love
life is life
there is nothing else to it.
i knew way back when
she was just four not yet five
learning
how to hold a pencil to write
she was a beat poet and roller derby queen of adventure.
—
“one should write because one loves the shape of stories and sentences
and the creation of different words on a page.”
-annie proulx
I didn't have my glasses on.... 