Story Land Jamboree

I feel like a Catholic who has not been to confession in too long.  Only it is me, the penitent writer, who has not written much in so very long. So, I think my confession would go something like this:  "Forgive me Readers for I have sinned. It has been almost four years since my last blog/confession ..." Do I have reasons for being so long away? Of course, I do. My mother's stroke, my life-changing surgery, my mother's death, my dad's health, the pandemic, work stress, life stress, health issues, and a zillion other problems and distractions that plague modern people with little demons that tug them away from what they were meant to be doing.  Some people were meant to be growing gardens but never got the energy to do it for the last year or two. Some people dropped off their exercise routine and their dream of doing a 10K or a marathon has shriveled up and died. The "thing" is different for everyone.  My thing is writing. My non-fiction writing has nev...

 Welcome to my newest True Story episode!  I hope you enjoy this one-minute read to experience a slice out of a really weird life. Here goes:  True Story "The Conversation"  I was ripped abruptly out of night's velvet embrace by the sound of my husband's voice.  "What did you just say?" I asked, using a quiet, almost-whisper voice. It is the tone I pull out of the hat for midnight conversations, funerals, church, and gossip.  "I was answering you," said Keith.  I sat up in bed and peer at his lumpy man-shadow next to me in the bed. "What answer? I wasn't saying anything. I was sleeping."  Keith has been known to say some very strange things when he is half-asleep. I plan to reveal a few of those with time. On this occasion, he just burrowed further into his pillow and mumbled, "Yes, you were. You were talking in your sleep and I was answering you."  "So ... what you're saying is ... we are just two sleep-talkers hav...

 Hello to members of my Tribe!  It's been a long, long time and a lot has happened. Like all good friends, I would like to pick up where we left off.  I have published more than The Gifted now ... "The Gifted: Adversaries & Healers" turned into a trilogy. I have published short stories and been part of some great collections and have another trilogy started with "The Witch of Hadler's Woods."  If you want to know what I have been up to, then feel free to follow my Amazon Author's Page:  https://www.amazon.com/L-A-Story/e/B00VBWVG1S or my Facebook Author's Page:  https://www.facebook.com/lastorythewriter . Why am I coming back here to the Story Land Jamboree after all this time? Well ... because it seemed to be a good place to talk shop, to share funny stories about things that happen in my life, and to share my thoughts about ... well, everything.  I hope you are as happy to see me back as I am to see you all here.  I have missed you.  L...

Good afternoon, Members of The Tribe,  I hope you all enjoyed your Valentine's day. I enjoyed mine -- I really enjoyed walking around at work and randomly yelling, "Happy V.D., everyone!"   There were some laughs ... and some grimaces ... Hey, not everyone has a sense of humor.   My husband, who is a wonderful poet, wrote me a poem for Valentine's Day and I made a special dinner. We topped it off by watching the RUSH documentary, "Beyond the Lighted Stage." It was actually a really happy, fun little evening.  You all know I may babble about my personal life, but sooner or later, I'm going to come around and talk about something to do with creativity.  I think it is through these our art -  our creativity - that we connect with others in the human experience and we also learn about ourselves. Well, we will learn if we are Tribal, that is. (**See previous blogs to know what I mean by being "Tribal.") Do you know when I started becomin...

Hello to all fellow members of the Tribe,  I hope you all made it through another week with the daily grind and still managed to eek out some creative moments to nourish your souls.  As you all are well aware ... (or all five of you that read this blog -ha!) this blog has evolved into a weekly discussion about my creative meanderings. It is my hope that you all can relate ... that you'll see my struggles and humor and know exactly what I am talking about.  I have heard so many writers refer to the ideas that come to them as "voices" in their heads. I can really relate to that. I have always thought of it that way, too.  Here's how the process works for me: It starts with a vision - usually just a scene.  For instance, In my fantasy short story, "Viridis," I had an image of this magical place where the gods reside. A place where humans couldn't view it except through special glasses because our fragile minds could not handle what we were really ...

Good afternoon to all the Tribal people out there,  This week, I had a conversation with an artist - and fellow Tribe member -- Dylan. He and I were riding in his car and got to talking about the ebb and flow of our creative lives. Right now, he said the issues in his personal life had led to a short attention span and he cannot seem to make himself complete any work of significant size.  I understand his frustration.  For a while, after the end of the longest relationship of my life, there was a period of several years when surviving -- being a single mom, working 2 to 3 jobs, and full time college student -- was all I could focus on. Previous to that, I had been quite prolific -- having published a poetry book and several short stories. The ideas and the characters buzzing around in my head were things I took for granted. I didn't realize they were blessings. Gifts.  Somehow, in the course of survival mode, I was drained of all else that I was. There was si...