Category: Women and Writing
Mother’s Day, Wikipedia, and Politics
Mother’s Day is upon us. We honor our moms for nurturing care, but their contributions in other arenas are, inevitably, marginalized. Wikipedia recently excised most “American Women Novelists” from its “American Novelists” category – segregating them in a female subcategory, thereby rendering American novelists nearly entirely male. When we think of other public categories too, [...]
Duty and Desire – A Tale of Modern India
What can I tell you about my debut novel, Duty and Desire, the first in my Winds of Fire series, that would intrigue you? It was a 9 year journey to finish Duty and Desire. I began writing the original draft in 2002, shortly after we moved from Singapore to New Jersey, USA. My kids [...]
Losing the Artist, Saving Her Art (Part 2)
Continued from Losing the Artist, Saving her Art Part 1. Eugenia’s physicians finally allowed her to travel with considerable misgivings, as she was 84 and had a metallic heart valve. Transatlantic travel is stressful one way or the other, but there was no holding her back. She wanted to experience the place that her daughter had loved [...]
Farewell From Assistant Editor Victoria Shockley
“When I am writing, I am trying to find out who I am, who we are, what we’re capable of, how we feel, how we lose and stand up, and go on from darkness into darkness. I’m trying for that.” – Maya Angelou Roughly five months ago, I had a conversation with Anora McGaha, founder [...]
A Turning Point in My Life
I had a wonderful childhood, and leading up to the present, well, like everyone, I have had my share of ups and downs. But as I will tell anyone and everyone who’ll listen, I feel that I experienced a turning point in my life only a few years ago. I awoke one morning, on a birthday, with [...]
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, [...]
On Giving Yourself Permission
My training is in the theater as an actor and director. One year, during rehearsals for a play, I began a short relationship with the only man in the play, an inexperienced but charming actor. He fancied himself a writer and scribbled stream of consciousness into a notebook, long and wordy, signifying nothing. But he [...]
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, [...]
How to Stay Motivated to Finish Your Writing
As any writer or author knows, starting a new book or other writing project is usually fun and exciting. But once you get started, staying motivated to actually finish writing the book or project can be pretty tough, especially if you’re working on something that can take several months to complete. My first book, a [...]
