Writing - the ups and downs

Raymond and I during happier times. I'd known for a few months that Raymond was sick. He pushed himself all summer to water his beloved plants and trees, help our daughter and granddaughter cut the lawn, and ride his tractor at every opportunity. He started sleeping too much and having headaches that continued to worsen in September. He'd planned to attend our 17 year old grandson's first football game and wasn't able, I knew his health was not good. It wasn't until the end of September that we rushed him to the hospital with an unbearable headache and nausea. He was diagnosed with a cerebral stroke. We were told it was a big one. He made a bit of a come back and came home a few days later, weaker but still functioning. In home rehab gave him some strength back in his arms and one leg but not enough. He was able to transfer from his wheelchair to bed or chair but not do much else. One day he did insist on vacuuming the kitchen with a new kitchen vacuum ...

On Saturday October 26, I'll be in Becklely, WV signing my books at the Tamarack Book Store from 11 am until 4 pm. Hope to see you there! Hugs, Barbara

Another week has gone by and here's the continuation of my novel Sweet Baby James. Trying to get it finished by year's end. I have a book signing this coming Sat. Oct. 26th at Tamarack in Beckley, again. I love going there. It's fun to see all the beautiful quilts and crafts made by West Virginia artisans. I'm thrilled to have my two books in the book store there. Many people come through this center over a every day and I'm always fortunate enough to meet some lovely people who are touring the country, people going to or from vacations. People always in a festive mood. It's a fun place to be! Good food in the restaurant, by chefs trained at Greenbrier, and a great coffee stand and ice cream stand. So if you are near there, come by and say hello. Here's the continuation of Sweet Baby James. Remember, comments are welcome! Please! Hugs.                                        SWEET BAB...

I've been away from my desk for too many weeks. First, the wonderful West Virginia Writer's Conference in Ripley, WV, where I went with good friend Jill S. My book Vada Faith was finally in the book store there and we had great fun at the workshops, renewing old friendships and making new. June also saw the publication of my second book Ezra and Other Stories, then there was the rush of summer, enjoying the long sunny days. The Null family reunion in August was one of the highlights of summer. Too, I had one great day at a book signing for both my books at the Tamarack in Beckley, WV. I talked to travelers from all over and sold quite a few books. The highlight of September was a book signing at the Pickaway County Library in Circleville. Quite a crowd came. I gave a workshop on getting published, using my own experiences to hopefully make the pathway easier for someone else. Even sold a few books, which is always fun. I had a great time and so did the participants. Rece...

This morning I was sleeping peacefully when I felt eyes on me. I shifted my weight in bed and turned toward the wall. My eyes popped open and I came eye to eye with a black spider. He was on the wall about a foot to the left of my table lamp. Sure, he was three feet from the edge of my bed. But still. He was in the house where I figure he did not belong. I mean, even if he’d been in the basement I would have given him some slack. But no he was in my space. And that called for action. I lost no time putting my feet on the floor. I headed to the kitchen to find a weapon. I was no match for that fellow, Lord knows. I found a flip flop that seemed to be up to the job. Returning to the bedroom I noted he was waiting for me, same position, same glassy stare, same ugly black velvety body.  Here is a photo of where the stand-off took place. No pictures of the enemy as I would then be afraid of the photo and convinced that he was living in my camera. Nada. Nope. No photos of ...

Elmore Leonard — author of  Get Shorty ,  Out of Sight , and  Rum Punch  as well as other titles ---passed away August 20.  May he rest in peace. He was an amazing writer! This first photo below is the way I'd like to remember Elmore Leonard. Way back when. Hard at work at his typewriter surrounded by books and his own words. Many people have already shared Elmore's rules for writing. But, I for one can bear reading them again and would probably benefit from reading the list before each writing session. I'm working my way through a second draft of a novel and struggling as if it's the first sentence I've ever written. Perhaps this review of his words will assist me when I return to my desk. Pictured below is a more sophisticated and successful Elmore. Perhaps a truer image of him before he passed. But I'm a fan of the younger Elmore. Without saying anything more, I hope  you get something from reading his rules for...

Those of you who still have your natural eyebrows, please hold up your hands. Okay. Nice show of hands. Now, let’s see the hands of those who have eyebrows that are not the greatest but still in place and serving you well.  O-kay. Good count. Thanks! All those who had your hands in the air are now dismissed. Sorry. This class is going to discuss and dis-cuss (not really! well, maybe!) the lack of nice regular eyebrows. When I was a kid like most of you girls in the audience, I had normal eyebrows. Nice shape, nice color. It was in my teens, when I started to pay attention to them, that they began to let me down. I first learned to pluck and tweeze the hairs above my eyes from watching my sister Sue do hers.  She had black brows in a perfect arch over big brown eyes. Nice.  Nice wasn’t my experience. Far from it. I either took off too many or too little. I never got the hang of tweezing or plucking so I gave that up. For a few years I let my br...