Category: On Writing

The Inspiration for Gitel’s Freedom
BY IRIS MITLIN LAV My mother’s name in the Yiddish language was Itta Gitel. Many Americans who are Jewish have an English name that they use every day – in my mother’s case it was Anne Gertrude – and a name in the Hebrew or Yiddish language used for ceremonial purposes. Those names were often […]

The Self-Care Phenomenon of Female Friendships and Chosen Family
By Jess Ames Throughout our lifetime, friends of every season will come and go, fade and grow. Some will float away on the wind, while others will take root in our lives and become the backdrop to all our most important moments. Weddings… and everything that comes after. Births. Deaths. Divorce. Anniversaries. Birthdays. New jobs. […]

MATERNAL AMBIVALENCE: The Loving Moments & Bitter Truths of Motherhood: Excerpt
Maternal Ambivalence: The Loving Moments & Bitter Truths of Motherhood by Margo Lowy PhD Maternal Ambivalence is a groundbreaking examination of the myriad complex emotions that accompany motherhood for so many women. Dr. Margo Lowy tackles the dark and shameful feelings associated with this long-misunderstood and taboo topic, offering the reader genuine self-acceptance and a transformative […]

Do The Thing You Are Most Afraid Of
By Joanne Intrator, author of Summons to Berlin: Nazi Theft and A Daughter’s Quest for Justice I was in Edinburgh on my way to Berlin via Amsterdam to give a paper at a conference organized by Benedikt Goebel, an architectural historian and expert on East Berlin where my family’s large manufacturing building was located until […]

When Did I Get Old ?! by Ellen Yaffa
by Ellen Yaffa Aging is like a cautionary tale. A horrified friend lectures her 70-year old husband as he descends from the roof, “At your age, you shouldn’t be climbing up ladders!” My daughter warns, “Watch your step, use your flashlight.” My partner’s refrain: “Be careful! And whatever you do, don’t fall!” Vulnerability is in […]

On Creating Galiot Press
by Henriette Lazaridis Co-Founder, Galiot Press A few years ago, I made what was already my customary joke about publishing to a writer friend of mine. “When I have my publishing company,” I said, “I’m going to fix all that.” But I wasn’t really joking, and I think my friend could tell. Because her reply […]

Writing A Romance Series about Love and Healing Saved My Life
By Patricia Leavy Let me tell you a little bit about my new novel and the series it launches. I wrote it in the hope of bringing joy, comfort, and maybe a little healing and inspiration to others. In fact, the novel has done all that and much more for me. I believe it saved […]

My Writing Journey, by Marie W. Watts
My writing journey has been a long and winding one. It began with what appeared to be a perfectly normal middle-class childhood for the 1950s and 60s in Baytown, Texas. I had two parents who cared about me, a brother 18 months younger than me to fight with, a stay-at-home mom, all the comforts you […]

Kay Smith-Blum: My Writing Journey
My tale begins with rejection. My personal tally for the three manuscripts I have written since 2016 includes 68 rejections but one in particular was pivotal. On April 22, 2022, seasoned literary agent, Kevan Lyon, from whom I had “won” a First-Pages review via the WFWA auction, advised me in a very kind and empathetic […]

Authors Interviewing Characters: Shelby Saville
And They Had a Great Fall is a love story about a secret relationship between a single mother and a rising celebrity. Their romance started during the pandemic, a time when the entire world stopped. This unlikely pair reunite a year later in Copenhagen, after the world has reopened. What happens when they have to […]
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