creative writing

Beware the Zombies

October 29, 2020 by Judy

I’m supposed to be writing a review of Steven Pinker’s Sense and Style, but like the student who waited until the last minute to read the book, I’m not in a position to write a full review—yet. With Halloween on the horizon, and Pinker’s reference to zombie nouns, I thought a blog on those might be more apropos than trying to bluff my way through a full book review. I am not a fan of horror films or literature (with the exception of Stephen King), so my knowledge of zombies is limited. Suffice to say that for our purposes the …

When You Need an Editor

October 6, 2020 by Judy

At first glance, the similarities between doctors and editors may be difficult to imagine. While editing may not have quite the number of specialties as the medical profession, it is no more a one size fits all profession than doctoring is. You may have a general practitioner for annual checkups, but when you break a bone, you’ll be referred to an orthopedic doctor. Sustain a heart attack and you’ll see a cardiologist. Likewise, it’s important to know that editor is an umbrella term that encompasses as many as five to seven “specialties.” Before we delve into them, however, I want …

Creativity is Passion–Not Perfection

September 1, 2020 by Judy

Love Letters to Writers: Encouragement, Accountability, and Truth-telling One benefit of being furloughed from my part-time day job in response to CoVID-19 is the time it’s given me to read. When I committed to the Goodreads Challenge at the outset of 2020 after a year’s hiatus, I not only set a goal of reading 50 books this year, but I also committed to finishing all the unfinished books on my Kindle. It’s much easier for me to give up on a book I’m not crazy about if it’s on Kindle because I figure it will always be there if my …

An Interview with Mary Potter Kenyon

August 17, 2020 by Judy

I met Mary Potter Kenyon in February when she hosted a writers conference at Shalom Spirituality Center where she is the program coordinator. Being around other writers is always a treat for me, but this conference was especially so due to Mary’s warmth and hospitality. Rarely do I leave such a conference feeling like I’ve made a friend with the host, but this time I did. That feeling grew when I read her memoir: Refined by Fire: A Journey of Grief and Grace. Mary’s writing is as genuine as she is. When she asked for volunteers to join her launch …

The Secret to Getting Published

August 10, 2020 by Judy

When Diane Holmes’s grandmother divulged the untold story of her mother—a secret she’d kept from adolescence to her death bed—Diane took on the mantel of family historian and storyteller. While her grandmother’s story caused a sensation within the family, Diane saw more in her grandmother’s life—courage and resilience in the face of difficulty and loss. It has taken nearly 75 years for Grandma Bernadine’s story to reach the written page, and that is a narrative in itself. While Diane mulled the account of her grandmother’s life from her own adolescence, a 2014 New Years resolution propelled her to finally put …

Try Something New

April 21, 2020 by Judy

What new or old-new thing have you tried during your quarantine? Seems many are discovering baking—especially bread. I’m struggling to find the appeal in that—other than the smell and taste of fresh-baked bread, with plenty of butter. I only resort to baking these days when the supply of over-ripe bananas exceeds our capacity for smoothies. Then I turn to, or rather the cookbook absent its yellow cover, falls opens to the oft-used page. My go-to recipe makes two loaves of banana bread–one to eat fresh, one to freeze or pass along to a neighbor. No yeast or hours of waiting …