Category: Writing

…the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured. Kurt Vonnegut   This is the second in my series on creating community. In this post, I’m featuring the Cincinnati Writing…

More than a half, maybe as much as two-thirds of my life as a writer is rewriting. I wouldn’t say I have a talent that’s special. It strikes me that I have an unusual kind of stamina. John Irving For…

The second week in July, I attended the Antioch Writer’s Workshop. What an exhausting and exhilarating week. The benefits continue to accrue. Here’s my first installment.   Andre Dubus III gave the keynote address on Saturday evening and then taught…

This week, July 12-18, I’m attending Antioch Writer’s Workshop in Yellow Springs, Ohio. I’m learning a lot. Today I learned about Minimal Poems from Chris DeWeese, an Assistant Professor of Poetry at Wright State University. Minimal poems can have as…

…we must dare to show up and let ourselves be seen. This is vulnerability. This is daring greatly. Brené Brown I place a star next to the paragraph I just highlighted in my copy of Brené Brown’s book, Daring Greatly,…

As the Mad Anthony Writer’s Workshop (April 4-6) draws near, e-mails fly back and forth. Nita, my writing partner, and I help each other put finishing touches on our pitches.    Nita with her Bluebells   In the writing business,…

Today I want to acknowledge five vibrant Dayton writers. They dub themselves “The Plot Sisters,” meet regularly to critique each other’s writing, and attend writing conferences together.   Traci Ison Schafer, Cindy Cremeans, Christina Consolino, Jen Messaros Ruthann Kain (not…

I’m overflowing with gratitude for the abundance enriching my life the past couple of weekends.    What an adventure attending my first writer’s conference, The Mad Anthony Writer’s Conference, at Miami University Hamilton last weekend. There will be more to…

And the truth of your experience can only come through in your own voice. Anne Lamott As an introvert, I’m more comfortable speaking before a large gathering than engaging one-on-one. For me, opening up is reserved for only a trusted…

I want to write, but more than that, I want to bring out all kinds of things that lie buried in my heart. Anne Frank In 1999, after a long painful period in my life with both my children, we…