Writing weekly columns: can it amount to creative writing? Here are two recent examples.
Guitarist from France, read here.
On primatologist Frans de Waal, read here.
It is early April 2023. I'm trying to recover from a series of adversities, which has pretty much stopped my creative output. The exception is, I have picked up again on my column writing for the online Cheyenne Post, see the page with its corresponding header. My hope is to use the "Patriarchy" column as a jumping-off point for a creative-nonfiction piece that touches on the heartaches of weeks past .
I am writing this on Sunday, October 2, 2022, at a time of leave taking. Saying goodbye is a huge event, one that has cost me much anxiety--see my column in the Cheyenne Post on "Downsizing." The process itself has been full of exasperating twists and turns. My house finally sold on Sept. 30, and the purchase of my Saratoga house will be happening within the next few days. After that, the movers will arrive to take my stuff to Saratoga. I've been packing boxes and cleaning closets and rooms as they get empty. My Saratoga house will be half the size of this one, with no acreage as I have here.
Take a look at my "Book Gallery" recent entry (under "About Me") and my article under "Columns Cheyenne Post," July 2022. Both talk about an essay I'm working on re mental illness in my family.
Isent the following notice to my google group in April 2022:
A few days ago I had shoulder surgery and now I'm in recovery. So far it's going as anticipated. I have had some essays published online in thecheyennepost.com The latest is on the brutal and unjust drone warfare waged by the Pentagon, in which countless innocent bystanders lose their lives and become "collateral damage." If interested in reading the piece, please use this link:
Of my recent publications, I narrate both the "Oxygen" and "Black Stones" on their respective publication sites.
My personal essay, “Oxygen, ah Oxygen!” appeared in the Spring 2022 Issue of Tint Literary Journal. This journal publishes writers whose first language is not English. To read it, click here.
"Chaos and Consolation" appeared in Syncopation Literary Journal on January 1, 2022. This journal publishes essays and stories that have to do with music. To read it, click here.
“The Black Stones of Regret” appeared in December 2020 in Inklette Literary Journal. The story is an autobiographical essay covering a slice of life of yours truly as a young immigrant and mother, circa 1966. In Inklette the printed version is preceded by a recorded reading of the story by me. To read it, click here.
“Virus in America” appeared in the Special Election Issue of The Courtships of Winds on November 1, 2020. The essay's primary focus is on the differences between the German and American responses to the pandemic. To the right is the essay in its original. To read it, click here.
“My Late-in-Life Romance” appeared in November 2020 under “Writing" in OyeDrum. The editors of this journal were very complimentary. To read it, click here.
A reminiscence about a service watch that's someone else's story appeared in The Cheyenne Post on October 26, 2021. To read it, click here
I regret to say, Ageless Authors seems to have gone permanently offline after its creator, Larry Upshaw, suffered a stroke. Apparently he's not in position to continue to project. I sent an email to his wife, wanting to help. but go no response, and no one else has stepped up to pick up the pieces.
Here are a few publications of my work in online literary magazines. To get from one pdf file to another, click "return" rather than "close" as you exit.
The comments to my Slater friends on masks, below, is included in "Virus in America," see above.
The Wyoming Writers' Conference sponsored my session on Risky Writing via Zoom on Saturday, June 20, 2020. Scooter Smith of Texas was my guest author, whose memoir cum short story, "Come the Revolution" was published in the most recent anthology of Ageless Authors, Dang, I Wish I Hadn’t Done That (see cover image in the Book Gallery page). We also discussed a Wyoming Writer’s poem, Carrie Naughton's "Moose Bell." Regrettably, the author was unable to join us. Her poem appeared in Blood, Water, Wind, and Stone: An Anthology of Wyoming Writers (see cover image on Book Gallery page). "Moose Bell" contains a dynamite section on a conversation that lays bare religious intolerance.
Larry Upshaw, Director of Ageless Authors, joined us. He was impressed with the subject matter and later requested I undertake similar webinar events for his constituency.
After my story "Windy Acres" appeared in an anthology of Wyoming Writers, Inc., I recognized (too late) its flaws. So, began polishing and submitting my personal essays and fictional stories to literary magazines. My newspaper-column writing at The Wyoming Tribune Eagle has come to an end; thus, I have time on my hands for creativewriting and revising.
In January 2020, I submitted the proposal below to Wyoming Writers Conference, which was accepted by its committee a month later. I look forward to giving the presentation at the conference in June. Spring 2020 I'll offer similar workshops for smaller venues: at Platte County Library in Wheatland, WY, and at Unitarian Universalist Church of Cheyenne.
Ageless Authors Has Something for You!
You’ve looked forward to retiring and now that it’s happened, you are faced with a lot of hours. Why not fall back on the ingenuity that once helped you find your way in the world, raise children, develop a career? Ageless Authors can help. In a community of experimenters from all walks of life and every corner of the country you’ll learn to share stories about yourself, create essays, dip into fiction, try poetry writing.
The goal of Ageless Authors is to give people 65 and up a venue for their creativity. It came to life and continues to flourish under Chief Cook and Bottle Washer Larry Upshaw. On agelessauthors.com readers find blogs on how to get started, how to gather and develop ideas, how to organize ideas into essay or story—last not least, how to stick with a project when you’re discouraged. The blogs have been created by yours truly and will continue to appear off and on. Then there are contests to enter and anthologies to purchase that can help the novice get started on—or polish—a piece of writing. One interesting feature of an Ageless Authors: Its anthology doesn’t just feature prize winners but publishes three or more “Honorable Mentions” and three or more “Recognizeds.” I was a judge in last year’s “Memoir” category.
My third career (1991 to 2004) comprised teaching literature and writing—expository, business, creative writing— at a number of colleges and universities, first as teaching assistant (TA) at University of California at Davis, then as faculty, including at two Tennessee HBCUs (Historically Black College or University). [Below] you will find my CV and Addendum.
In this seminar I’ll discuss highlights from a story in the Dang, I Wish I Hadn’t Done That Anthology, see attached copy of cover. The story I want to choose, “Seven is the Magic Number,” won Honorable Mention last year and was created by Kenneth Stewart, who describes himself as born in Memphis, TN, with a science degree in math and physics. After working for IBM, he formed his own company in a career that spanned forty years. The seminar will show that Stewart’s essay, interesting as it is, actually comprises several mini-stories. The essay could be fashioned to suggest a timeline, with details to help readers orient themselves. It should begin and end on the same topic, with this or that anecdote of another topic worked into the main story. Some mini-stories are so evocative, one or the other could be expanded into an essay of its own.
Great news! In late October 2019, the Wyoming Arts Council notified me that my application for a Professional Development Grant has been approved. The application was a lot of paper work and documentation: Along with a CV (above, left) that covers my professional years, I attached an Addendum Resume (above, right) covering the ten-plus years of my Wyoming residence of volunteer work, creative writing, and performances of guitar and vocals (see Music Gallery page). I also filled out a six-page application form. Well, it was worth it.
I was a previous recipient of the Council’s Frank D. Nelson Doubleday Memorial Award.
