Upside Downside

 

 

If there is an upside to downsizing, it is finding little treasures that you had long since forgotten you had. Thus, rummaging through a box of memories one day, I found a tiny book that had completely slipped my mind. (Not a hard thing to do nowadays!). Its has generated many laughs and much conversation.

Insults and Comebacks somehow made it into my box of cards from grandchildren and embroidered hankies from my grandmother. Don’s ask me why. I picked it up, gingerly opened the first page and didn’t stop laughing until I got to the end of the book. I normally do not like insults, and I really don’t like saying nasty things to people, but this was in the anonymity of my home and with no one personal in mind, so I figured it wasn’t hurting anyone.

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Is This Your Lemon Pie????

Let me take you back a few years.

My friend, Sandy, could bake up a storm. She could look at a recipe and know immediately that she could make an award winning copy of whatever confection she had just read about. She was young and knew that there was nothing culinary she couldn’t accomplish.

There’s Always Someone….

Many (many, many) years ago, as a bride, it began to slowly dawn on me that my life as an Air Force wife was going to be significantly different from my former life as a college student in North Dakota.

We were new to the service, living in Japan in a village just outside of Tokyo. My husband had his dream job–flying a C-130 into lands we had only heard of as kids. Our life became fairly routine, as he flew off to Bangkok or Hong Kong and I stayed behind with the other wives exploring the more exotic environment of Tachikawa village and learning the fine art of Japanese flower arranging.

Beating Writer’s Blech

Words stringing into sentences, sentences stringing into paragraphs and paragraphs stringing into chapters. That is writing at its best, which produces a novel. What happens when the writing of words equals the backspacing of words? Writer’s blech. When I can write, I can write volumes on that.

Words! Words! Words!

My growing up years in North Dakota were idyllic in the sense that our parents more or less left my sister and me on our own. It was the time in history when kids played outside from dawn to dusk without interference from adults. A quick peanut butter and jelly sandwich at noon and we were good to go for the rest of the day. We were sent into the world with certain instructions however. “Wear shoes!” “Stay away from the river.” “Don’t chase strange dogs.” “Leave your sister alone.” “Be home by dark.”

My Three Top Writing Books

They say writers should be readers. And boy, have I got that covered! Today, I thought I’d share three of my top writing books. These are good ones to have on your shelf as they explain the basics for any beginning writer.

Two and Counting…

 

Two years ago, as I pressed the “publish” button and sent my first Paddlecreek article into cyberspace, my hands were shaking. It’s scary to put your thoughts out in public. Well, some things never change, as my heart will beat a little faster when I push the “publish” button for this column these many months later. It’s an overwhelming and heady feeling to think we can communicate with like minded people that we haven’t met…yet. Happy Anniversary to us!!!!

I remember the day …

I remember the day I wrote my first fiction story. I know that sounds odd, but I do. Well, I had written a skit or two in high school. And there was probably a paper here and there that was fictional, but not a real fiction story.

New Year Writing Goals

How will you fill your squares this year?

It’s that time of year again. A brand new calendar is hung on the wall or added to the planner. All those squares are white, crisp, clean. Empty.

Hail and Farewell

HAIL AND FAREWELL

     Did I tell you that my friend is moving? Not just a down the street and over two blocks move. It’s a pack-the-china-carefully, hit the highway, and drive across the country move. And I am not happy. In all truth, of course, it isn’t about me. It’s about my friend and the enormity of what lies ahead for her. But in the nitty-gritty of life, it is about me, because I am going to be left behind to miss her.