Red Room Where the Writers Are

Book on Fire

Once, when I was a writing Fellow (I'll never be a fellow, but that's what they called us) at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, a magician visited to entertain us.  He was the boyfriend of one of the painters.   He told us that he had just been engaged in doing on a special U.N. tour of refugee camps in the Middle East and in Africa, where he brought some cheer and humor into grim ...

Collective Wisdom

Stacey T Pollock's extended article 'Unconditional Love' will be compiled with other authors work in Collective Wisdom - Available in FebruaryA collaborative work edited by Donald Gerard, MA, CHT.Collective Wisdom: Powerful Stories and Practical Advice for Achieving Success is a wonderful compilation of inspirational stories and words of wisdom on personal growth and success from coaches, ...

The fine art of procrastination

Procrastination. The fine art. The sweet science. The bane of a writer's deadline.I don't remember how I procrastinated before the Internet came along, but I'm sure I found something to lure me away from the humongous manual typewriter I wrote my two "practice novels" on. Procrastination and writing go hand in hand. Nowadays most writers (including myself) write on computers, and most ...

Shooting Stars Mag - Guest Post

Today, the second part of my feature on Shooting Stars Mag is up. You can read my guest post here:http://shootingstarsmag.blogspot.com/2009/01/guest-blog-margay-leah-justice.htmlAnd in case you missed my interview, here's the link:http://shootingstarsmag.blogspot.com/2009/01/interview-with-margay-leah-justice.htmlEnjoy!

A cool review

I like to use this blog to direct you to interesting web sites, even if I choose my own.  Today I’d like to introduce you to a fan named Ron Stutler.I met Ron in a mall bookstore when I signed a copy of "Collateral Damage" for him.  Recently he wrote to tell me that he read the book faster than he expected to.  He compared it to past TV shows and movies, and said he appreciated ...

On Synopses

Distilling a 350+ page novel into under 4 pages is not my favorite writing endeavor. Cover the Who, What, When, Why & Where. Let your voice show through. Use third person, present tense. Be sure to include major turning points, which in an action-adventure-mystery are plentiful. And then, for a romance, you also have to hit the following points as well: 1.  The set-up (external plot ...

Source of Lit - Online and Off

(Cross-posted with TaniaWrites) I am not very well. It's been several weeks of virtual hibernation, not really going out of the house because that raises anxiety levels. It's a combination of stress and hormonal imbalance, and I am now taking stuff and seeing people who are helping, as well as helping myself by laying off the coffee (shame) and sugar (hmm...chocolate?) and, well, not doing very ...

Read This And Win A Free iPod:...

A friend of mine has been encouraging me for months to start marketing my writing. According to her, no one can find out about your work if you sit at home in your pajamas and never go outside or talk to anyone. "But I don't have anything to promote," I told her. "The book's not finished yet.""If you wait until you have something to promote, it will be too late. You need ...

Solitude

                Mindful Exercise Mist was rising off Stowe Lake in smoky tendrils as I began an early morning walk in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Patterns of sunlight foretold the advent of a beautiful day as it filigreed through pines onto the hard packed earth of the path. Ducks and mean tempered geese, along with other waterfowl continued their search for food, indifferent ...

portrait and poem

Didi painted a picture of me!

and I wrote a poem, again. I should show you the first draft -- it's so different, it's amazing. My mind tends to wander and things get weirder and weirder.
It's for a homework assignment for Joanna Furman's class -- a poem in one sentence. I actually did two of these.

At the Second Accident

I leave the engine running, the driver's
side door ...

Variety Is the Spice

            This first full week of 2009 has been full of varied activities:  INR reading, working on a feature article, visiting Jari Jackson, Kroger’s Senior Citizen Day, Center Church monthly business meeting, doctor’s appointment, prose and poetry reading at Hardee’s, visiting my daughter Katherine, going to the new restaurant at Goreville, attending our first swim meet at ...

Multitasking

I only allow myself to watch television on Sundays, though I have a small color set in my office. Somehow I feel guilty if I'm not doing something else at the same time. Know what I mean? Today I'm torn between watching a movie of The Phantom of the Opera on television and answering e-mail. I must confess I'm as drawn to spectacle as much as anyone. "Genius turned to madness." My take: ...

CIA: Thinking Outside The Fraternity

        My husband Rick and I were talking about the nomination of Leon Panetta to head the CIA, and Rick’s immediate comment was “Of course he’s a right choice– you appoint from inside when you want continuity, and from outside when you need change.” We’ve been hearing a lot about change lately – but the question here was about changing an organization like the CIA, with its ...

For Color-Starved Eyes

Every year about this time, in the darkest, coldest, cruelest part of winter, my eyes become color-starved. The reason I know this is because when the gardening catalogs start arriving just about the time the lights and glimmer from Christmas fade, it’s all I can do to keep myself from poring over their pages for hours. Not only do all of the flowers and sample gardens indulge my eye, but ...

5 Presidents

It is the wackiest photo-op since Sarah Palin went herself a-turkey-farming. 3 ex-presidents, the current president, and the future president all kicking it old school, chilling in the Oval Office talking about what cool carpeting abounds. The five of them together IS a great image. And if Barack Obama is serious about that economic stimulus plan of his, we could raise a ton of money selling ...

Interview with General Laurent Nkunda, African rebel...

General Laurent Nkunda is a Tutsi warlord in Katanga who was recently interviewed by the Huffington Post. The BBC believe he is nothing more than your standard African rebel with a long list of atrocities to his name. An opinion supported by the UN and some human rights groups. The War Nerd has come to his defense, however, suggesting that he's just angered the UN by refusing to disarm and allow ...

I Won!

So imagine this: The club is packed. Standing room only. Stuffy, unbreathable air. Candlelit tables. The sounds of clinking glass, talking, and laughter. All these people have come to hear four authors read their work for Opium's Literary Death Match. They're lining the walls, sitting on the floor, perched on the bar. I squeeze through the crowd to greet friends that have come to the reading. It ...

Liability Insurance for Interrogators?

If leading Democratic senators have their way, agents and officials with the Central Intelligence Agency will be immunized against prosecution for any criminal activity arising from taking commands, and/or employing "alternative methods" of interrogation, under George W. Bush, and under future presidentsSenator Dianne Feinstein, newly appointed head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, ...

Another weekend gone...

It is the end of another weekend and as happens all to often the time has passed without everything getting done.  Most of January seems to be about finishing things from last year that and avoiding the blues.  With that stated it is clear that the projects from last year are going to take a huge effort to clear but I can't help think about what the next idea will be.  What should I pursue ...

So little time, so many books

 I think I'm in love.  I just read Elizabeth Berg's Open House.  It was the funniest thing I've read in - oh, I don't know how long.  I didn't intend to spend the whole day reading, but that's what I did.  I sat here and read in my motor home this morning, when it was still cool. Then I moved to the beach for a while, ostensibly to watch my husband brave the surf in his kayak - but I ended ...

Join the cause! Free Stacey Ann Lannert

From the age of nine Stacey Ann Lannert suffered sexual abuse from her own father. Despite the awareness of family members, the babysitter, friends, school officials and a psychiatrist, nothing was done to protect her. Now, for over fifteen years Stacey Lannert has been in prison in the State of Missouri for killing her sexually abusive father.

How do we save people from themselves?

There is a prevalence of super heroes in our culture. I suspect there have always been a prevalence of super heroes in every culture. I've been contemplating why this is true for a few years and have drawn some ... well, not exactly conclusions, but perhaps ideas that could lead to conclusions. I'd like to discuss these today.Ever since I was a child, I have wanted to help people. The desire was ...

Rehearsing, rehearsing, rehearsing!

Good thing I'm on leave from teaching.  I'm rehearsing in the kitchen at every chance--when Lou's not home.  I need the privacy to rant and experiment with lines.   It's easy to memorize short poems--but a set of all short poems would be too simple.   So I'm working on longer pieces, too.   Can't wait for my friend actress Kali Meister to come back home to Knoxville, to rehearse me.  Her ...

CHECK NOW MY FIRST THRILLER SHORT STORY

Check now part one of the short story "The house of hell" and let me know your comments.Thanks

Small Press Spotlight

Small Press Spotlight Rigoberto Gonzalez interviews me for his Small Press Spotlight series at Critcal Mass the blog of the National Book Critics Circle Board of Directors.   

Bringing Cool Jew Back to Manhattan

Tuesday and Wednesday, January 13th and 14thSchmooze: The Jewish Culture Conferenceat City Winery in Manhattan.If you've never attended, Oyhoo's annual gathering is a South By Southwest or Sundance Film Festival for the Jewish cultural and entertainment industry. Schmooze '09 brings together creative leaders from Jewish cultural organizations from over 50 cities in the United States and five ...

Jousting

Jousting   Saturday was the first day of the International jousting tournament held every two years in Upper Hutt. A good day was had by all. Video footage of some of the jousting is viewable at my bravenet blog. I have no clue if it's even possible to upload video here!  http://otherwisecat.bravejournal.com/  

Of salt and gold

Spent yesterday evening and this morning sorting out the first forty poems of my meditation series for an upcoming chapbook. I've decided on a provisional title of "Salt and Gold", which popped into my head while I was reading through the work. I rather like it, but I'll see if anything else comes up. So I've submitted to four possible poetry chapbook publishers and, if they don't want ...

another day... another day of procrastination.

I actually wrote on the second of the three books yesterday... only for about a half an hour before I had to go to work... Same thing will happen today.The advice I get from people is great regarding the query and approaching agents, but I still feel like Elmer Fud walking through a cocktail party of Nobel Prize winners. I look forward to having some days off in the hopes that I can take another ...

Picking Through the Garbage

I list the maladies that people talk to their therapists about. Being bullied, having parents who are never satisfied, feeling insecure, how one relationship descimated the soul.  Worse stuff: incest, physical abuse, alcoholism, drug use, rape....strands of thistle that wrap around each other until we are wearing our own crown of thorns. The pain keeps us from moving forward sometimes, or ...