Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way. -E.L. Doctorow Hear the meaning within the word. –William Shakespeare Realize that everything connects to everything else. ― Leonardo da Vinci
Cooking
In Recipes and Recollections of My Greek-American Family, Elaine Manolakas Schmitz shares her family’s traditional recipes and tales. It’s a beautiful book with color photos and high quality paper. She tells about two families who migrated from villages in Greece to Greektown Detroit, Michigan. “As they settled, mingled, and grew, they maintained their culture, customs, […]
Do You Have a Character with a Diastema?
Diastema could be a distinguishing feature in a character for a short story or novel. Diastema is the space between the upper front teeth. Some celebrities have diastema, Madonna, Woody Harrelson, Jack Black, Elton John, Brigitte Bardot, Michael Strahan, Condoleezza Rice, LeAnn Rimes, Ron Howard, Eddie Murphy, Samuel L. Jackson, Rhea Perlman, Seal, Ernest Borgnine, […]
Winter Solstice at Stonehenge
Today, December 21, 2014 is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year north of the Equator. Tonight will be the longest night of the year. This year’s winter solstice will begin at 6:03 p.m. EST (3:03 P.M. PST). When the sun is exactly overhead the Tropic of Capricorn tonight, it will happen at […]
California Writers Club Tri-Valley Branch Meeting
I was able to take off a few hours from work this afternoon to attend the California Writers Club, Tri-Valley Branch Meeting. Lani Longshore led a hands-on mini workshop called “Someone, Something, Somewhere: Short Stories Made Simple.” We wrote for five minutes with each of her prompts that involved, character, thing, place, inciting incident, story […]
What Are the REAL Odds of Being a Successful Author?
Collaborative Story Dock One
(End of collaborative story from previous posts.) Marian felt like an outsider while her father and Gen reunited with her mother. She gazed at the sparkling lights on the dazzling landmark. From the dock to the tower was what she had wanted, but she never expected the dangerous way to arrive there. “Marian, join us,” […]