Memoir
Wait
It’s weird. The eastern sky lit up on fire last night. The wildfire dosen’t rip through like a tornado or hurricane or tsunami. No one is dead. Most people have time to stand in the middle of their houses and ask themselves–what should I take with me? What matters? Sometimes you have hours, days to…
Read MoreStorytelling Thursday: Shrapnel and Uhauls Don’t Go with Beach Vacations
It isn’t quite Death Valley. But it’s July in the Imperial Valley of California. The sun has baked everything into the same pale dusty beige, except for the almost-alien bright green patches of land served by irrigation rigs. We’re barreling westward in our matching pale tan van, beach gear tucked in behind suitcases in the…
Read MoreWhat Is Your Best Vehicle Breakdown Story?
Stories express the complicated beauty of life better than lessons or lectures or one-liners ever could. I want to focus more on story-telling this year, and I’d love for you to join me on Thursdays. Next week, I’m telling a story about breaking down. Not mentally breaking down – this is about a car (or…
Read MoreA Revealing Lecture
We lounged around a table in a Chicago pizzeria, basking in the relief of having the debate season behind us and a day of sight-seeing before us. The graduating seniors on the team began telling favorite stories from the previous four years, regaling the underclassmen with their antics. Someone turned to our coach, Mrs. H.…
Read MoreDeep Breath: Best Post Written in Five Minutes
I’ve participated in The Gypsy Mama’s Friday writing prompt “Five Minute Fridays” numerous times over the past year. She gives a prompt and then we write, unedited, for five minutes. Then publish it. This post, on the prompt “deep breath,” is my favorite. P.S. I made a hilarious error writing it so fast. Can you…
Read MoreRemembeRED: In Which I Dabble in Memoir-Writing
In the spring I dabbled in different genres, including fiction and memoir. Write On Edge sends weekly memoir-writing prompts, called RemembeRED, and this particular week’s prompt was to think of a sound or a smell that reminds you of something from your past and write a post about that memory. Can you guess which smell inspired this…
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