Category: Women Writers
Filling in the Gaps
Filling in the Gaps by Barbara Hoffbeck Scoblic As I worked on my memoir, Lost Without the River, I often realized that I needed details about events that occurred before my memory had kicked in. I was grateful my five remaining siblings were willing and able to fill in my blank spots. Remarkable. I’m the youngest, […]
Exophonic Writers
What do you call an author who writes in a language that isn’t their mother tongue? Believe it or not, it does actually have an official name – an exophonic writer. Exophonic writers are an eccentric bunch, for it does take a peculiar mind to choose to express yourself in a language that isn’t really […]
Luck In Writing
I’m lucky. Not in a “you’re caller number ten” kind of way. I’ve never won concert tickets or a free cruise. I’ve never hit triple sevens or called out, “BINGO!” No, I’ve got the slow-burning kind of luck, the kind of luck that builds into something momentous. Today my debut novel, Between Earth and Sky, […]
An American Marriage: Interview with Tayari Jones
Real. Real is the best word to describe Tayari Jones’ novel, An American Marriage, which was just named Oprah’s latest book club pick. Roy and Celestial know love, and they struggled to be love amidst the swirling chaos that unfolded on fateful even in their new marriage. This novel captivates readers with the depths Jones explores […]
Yoda Versus The Muse
Let me get to the guts of this right away: I don’t believe in the Muse. Or in her more earthly cousin, Inspiration. I’ve written four novels (I sold three and used one for parts without showing it to anyone), and not one was powered by any outside force. I spent no time staring at […]
Anne Boleyn’s Last Hour
What if you knew you may die today, but you thought it was going to happen yesterday, and those plans had been changed? You wait, locked away in a tower—no communication with the outside world. The decision is to be made by your husband and the father of your only child, a daughter of less […]
Fanfaronade
You wouldn’t think one word I wrote in my debut novel, Annie’s Story, Book 1 of The Voyagers Trilogy, would cause a discussion between two mature men, would you? It was six months before my husband James actually asked to read my debut novel, Annie’s Story, published in April. I was quite surprised as I […]
Mental Health and Writing
Last night I watched, ‘Amy’, a poignant biopic of the young, troubled jazz singer who died at 27. As I watched I found myself becoming angry with her parents who saw the signs so early of her mental distress and chose to ignore it. And then I remembered that my parents had done something very […]
What I Learned From my Mentor
I’d been lost in the wilderness of writing for decades. Scraps of writing on torn-off bits of paper were clogging up drawers. Thousands more bits and pieces sat, ignored, on my computer, some of which dated back to 2002. Assignments from a home-study writing course were never completed and barely started ‘how to’ books littered […]
Writing Recipes
According to a recent poll, 57% of families don’t eat together, and they eat in up to four different rooms. This has not been my family’s experience. The Mystic Cookfire: the sacred art of creating food to nurture friends and family (written by Veronika Sophia Robinson, and illustrated by Sara Simon) is a collection of […]
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