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Nectar Taunts the Lazy Tongue

07/30/2011 By 2 Comments
Nectar tips tongue

(To unscramble this poem on memory & memoir, click “read more.”) Buds evoking what’s to come,Nudging traces in pool of haze, marking time,Just grazing.Nectar naively taunts the lazy tongue,Seeking shadows bent in silhouette. Faded light to bright the now begun.Mind grasping, gasping for perception In collection.Spike the feast, rattle the gourd,Reckon whorled resurrection. Unknown known as inky marks traverse the run,Find teasing taste of sweet vermouthOr bitter truth.Sometimes I remember to findReason coursing season.The Story Woman asks you to write Mother Memoir by using the seasons of recall to let your memories roll into your unique bio-vignette.

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Flash Fizzle: Fiction or Not?

07/04/2011 By Leave a Comment
Sparklers by Orin Zebest

It’s the 4th of July brought to us by the one, the only, Declaration of Independence.  I love the idea that our Founding Fathers were willing to die for our country's independence. We’ve become of nation with too many so-called leaders, hungry for power, who live for the vote regardless of what is right for the people of the United States of America—a far cry from the group of people in 1776 who had true character and conviction and the courage to do the right thing by founding a country based on principles that made us strong and indebted to no one.Would you sign your John Hancock or simply pin your hopes on a sparkler?  Beware the hot wire left in the grass; the burn makes for blisters that weep well after the flash fizzles.Photo by Orin Zebest

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Take Ego Out of Memoir Writing

06/22/2011 By Leave a Comment
Ego

Writing a memoir is like making your way through a maze—embrace the mystery. You will go to places where you don’t know everything; you’re not sure if you should venture right or left or back track some, but then you realize this journey of mystery and suspense is exactly where you want to be. It is hard to back away from life’s events and experiences to see them clearly because you have invested years of time and energy believing what you thought was so was so. The harder it is to let go of memories that you feel in your gut are misshapen, the better—I did not say easier—it is for your well-being to reconsider them.  The honest attempt to put your ego and emotions aside is the frame of mind essential in the first steps to writing memoir. Your emotions will be an indispensable asset to writing well after you take an honest reassessment of your memories.This is a reminder for all of you who write memoir or are beginning to write memoir. Question your assumptions rather than

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Joy in Writing Short & Getting Published

06/14/2011 By Leave a Comment

“You write because you have to.”  I heard this sentiment expressed several times by a few long-time authors during a “The Joy of Writing Short” panel put on by California Writer’s Club at Book Passage.  I picked up words and phrases about the world of publishing like: cruel, fickle, tough, competitive—and getting more so all the time. But don’t let those words dampen your spirit; they said all this while talking excitedly about being writers and authors. The panelists were memoirists, short story writers, and magazine article writers: Zoe F. Carter (www.ImperfectEndings.com) is the author of the memoir Imperfect Endings: A Daughter's Story of Love, Loss, and Letting Go; Joan Frank (www.joanfrank.org) is the author a story collection, In Envy Country; Frances Lefkowitz (www.FrancesLefkowitz.net) is the author of the memoir To Have Not; and Peg A. Pursell's (www.pegalfordpursell.com) 93-word story, "Fragmentation," was the title story of the (February 2011) Burrow

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Memorial Day Poppies 5 cents with a Song

05/28/2011 By 2 Comments
CA Poppy

I feel fortunate to have clear memories of what Memorial Day signifies. When I was a kid growing up in North Dakota, this was a day where everyone I knew actually did commemorate the fallen American soldiers, who had died for our country as far back as the Civil War. Flowers were placed on the graves and memorials of these brave men and women to honor the fact that they made the ultimate sacrifice. A huge amount of patriotism was displayed as flags waved in most every yard and place of business, our national anthem – The Star Spangled Banner – boomed from horn and drum across our great land, and the smoke from charred hot dogs (gotta love ‘em) blanketed picnic grounds the country over.Thousands and thousands of bright red, paper poppies were sold all over the United States in support of World War II Veterans. These crinkly poppies went for a 5¢ piece, and were worn with pride by all Americans. To us kids, they were like badges of honor. Perhaps this is another reason why the

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Feel a Story: Memoir Labyrinth No.12

05/20/2011 By Leave a Comment

There is no story without memory. What is a memory without feeling?Next time you walk the memoir labyrinth, put some thought into how you will allow your story to take shape and become a piece that captures your mother’s character and spirit. Think about what you need to bring into the story so that it will hold its shape and compel not just reading but connection.One way to begin your journey is to realize that you will start to build your memoir with memories of significance to place as the foundation of your story. The specific idea behind each memory can be thought of as a building block or brick, and what holds those bricks together is the mortar. From my point of view, the mortar of a story amounts to expressing the feelings emanating from the memories you’ve chosen. Accessing your true feelings and emotions and weaving them throughout will convey a solid connection between the memories and the people behind the memories. Your feelings accurately and honestly set down on

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Mother’s Day Souvenir par Excellence

05/05/2011 By Leave a Comment
5-2-2011 1-13-23 PM

In one vibrant and creative swoop, you have the power to give Mom the most original, meaningful Mother’s Day souvenir ever. And it’s free!Did you know souvenir means “memory” in French?You might be thinking, “Well, maybe Mom’s memory isn't what it used to be, but she already has one, so why is The Story Woman suggesting I give her more of what she’s got?”“Give me a few moments of your time and I’ll explain. Now, there’s that word ‘moment’—just exactly what I was looking for.”Here is what you do:Reach inside your mind where the memories dwell.Find one moment in time that in the telling would let Mom know  how special she is to you and how much you appreciate her unique personality.Take pen in hand, place the ball point at the top of some nice writing paper, and in your handwriting record this memory of a significant past event.Simple? Yes and no—there is a catch. You'll catch moments that specifically relate to your mother’s character and spirit.

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Salacious Spirit of Spring – Mother Nature’s Daughter

04/21/2011 By 2 Comments

Are you in love with Mother Nature or her daughter? I know you’re budding out, pert and peppy in all your glory, Spring. I feel you beckon me with your flirtatious ways, flowing sap and saucy spirit, so that I can’t resist your charms, but that only means trouble is looming on the horizon. Our love affair is fraught with predictable problems, and I should know better than to trust you after all these years. With you, Spring, I get bees that sting, sunburn, in spite of the block, and broken fingernails from poking around in your fertile bed. But that’s not the half of it. You make me hot – my temperature rises with hope held high for planting. Were it not for you, I wouldn’t envision brilliant flowers and juicy tomatoes that taste like tomatoes making their grand entrance all around after teasing them with gentle love and holy water. But I know my dreams will be dashed by loving you. You make me love you, and then you invite your ill-mannered friends to our garden

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Writer’s Block Be Damned

04/12/2011 By Leave a Comment
pink_panther_tiptoeing_

Hello, and welcome once again to The Story Woman blog where the Mother Memoir reigns supreme. What is the one story you will write to convey the essence of your mother’s character and spirit in the way you want her remembered? Let’s just say you have decided on the event or anecdote you will use to write your bio-vignette, but you can’t seem to move beyond thinking about writing your telling tale to actually writing it. On the other hand, you may have made good progress, but stopped writing because you were distracted and now you can’t pick up the thread again. Something is blocking your progress, so I’m here to help you shake the inertia.If this is one of those times when you throw up your hands and say you are unworthy to write this bio-vignette. Who do I think I am, writing a story? Especially this story.  And you say, "I don't have what it takes, the words won’t come, my story won't sizzle. I don’t know how to make the changes in my story that I know should be

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Imperfect Endings, Zoe F Carter’s Memoir

03/27/2011 By Leave a Comment
Zoe Carter

She Summoned DeathWhether or not one believes the choices this family made in Zoe Carter’s memoir, Imperfect Endings, are right or wrong, Carter is an undeniably powerful writer, who has an easy way with words on a complex, but timely issue. She has taken the difficult, to say the least, subject of life and death and crafted it into an unforgettable personal story laced with wit, wisdom, humor, compassion, insight, and abundant food for thought. To be honest, when I first picked it up I wondered if I wanted to “go there.” I’m glad I did—I found it incredibly moving.I know it took more than a little courage for Zoe Carter to write this provocative slice of life. Imperfect Endings meant paring familial façade to the bone and sucking out the marrow, which she did unabashedly.How does a daughter say, “Yes, Mom, I’ll watch you die slowly by your own hand.”  I’ll be a party to your staged sit-in with death.Hauntingly beautiful are the two words that washed over my

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