Category: Why Women Write
When Love Hurts
In honor of Domestic Violence Awareness month in October 2012 …. It was during a counseling course while getting my Masters degree that I had to choose an issue: I chose “battered women.” I am not sure what drew me to this topic, but I read every book I could find on it. I gave my [...]
Why I Write about Violence Against Women
As part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we are featuring blog posts by women writers on the topic. “Just as the body goes into shock after a physical trauma, so does the human psyche go into shock after the impact of a major loss.” Anne Grant As a domestic violence advocate, I find myself changed by [...]
Domestic Abuse and Isolation in Relationships
For Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we are featuring a number of blog posts by women writers on the topic. Sexual assault, addiction, and suicide are unsolved social problems that carry stigmas. The stigmas cast a code of silence that do not solve problems. The result of not speaking about the crime of sexual assault is too often [...]
Finding My Voice Again: A DV Story
The air in my upstairs bedroom was cold. In the rooms below me, my daughters and husband slept soundly beneath quilts and blankets. As I sat at my desk in an empty room, dark October branches brushed against the window, letting me know I was not alone. Comforted, I wrapped my hands around my mug of tea, [...]
Musings about Magic
Maybe it’s because I grew up too fast. A bespectacled avoider of physical education, I became too serious too soon and now long to recapture my childhood. Or maybe this is my way of protesting. On the other hand, at this mid-stage point in my life, I’m hungry for adventure. Whatever the reason, my writing [...]
Interview with Canadian Writer Bolaji Williams
We met Bolaji Williams on Twitter. She responded to one of our tweets. We read a recent blog post and loved the clarity of her writing and topic, so we invited her to do something with us. Voila, an interview with writer Bolaji Williams. When did you first know you loved to write? To be completely honest, [...]
Book Review: Chimamanda Adichie’s The Thing Around Your Neck
In The Thing Around Your Neck, a collection of short stories written by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the reader is exposed to characters that are many things, including a surprise to those who have been limited to a Western literary interpretation of Nigerian culture. Adichie insists on considering the wide variety of Nigerian stories to be [...]
Reflections on Native American Novelist Leslie Marmon Silko
It is a “given” that for bibliophiles like me, there is nothing better than curling up with a good read in a quiet house with a cup of steaming coffee – I take mine with cream and sugar. And there are scores of genres and sub-genres from which to choose. Romance. Inspiration. Poetry. Biography. You [...]
Why Write?
Why write? Why not? Why indeed? I wonder if it is wrong somehow, or detrimental at least, to tell a child they are doing well, or that they could work wonders as an adult. We, parents, are told that to give a child negative information is bad for their development. I agree. But what do [...]
Journey of a Lifetime: Becoming a Writer
When did I decide to become a writer in this world of many? Am I a writer, or a teacher, or both? Looking back, it was meant to be. Born in a small town in Austria, I always felt displaced. From early childhood, I remember being the “different kid” that stood out. Not in a [...]
