Writing - the ups and downs

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...

My husband looked at me yesterday from his easy chair and said, “You have wrinkles under your chin.” “What?” I said. Did I hear the man right? Did he say I had wrinkles under my chin? Surely not. No man in his right mind would speak those words to his wife. And most assuredly mine would not because number one he wants to live and number two he loves me too much to say something that would hurt my feelings.  I asked him to repeat his comment. OKAY. I heard him right. I jetted to the bathroom where the mirror confirmed there were wrinkles under my chin. How had I missed them?  Had I been so busy worrying about the wrinkles on my face I’d completely forgotten my neck? After all it holds up my head - one would think I would have noticed it. I was good to my neck. I smoothed wrinkle cream on it when I did my face. I used a scrub, a mask, expensive creams. And still it lets me down. All I can think about is my neck.  Of course I’m not speaking...

Can anyone believe it’s July already? I’m in shock. After going through a busy spring and with June passing by at lightening speed, I find myself on July 5th in a daze.   Where did the days go? Each individual day. Let’s see... As I look back I see that we did some yard work. We, as in my daughter and husband, with me thrown in occasionally - well, actually rarely. The lovely mulch went down - without me involved. I was there for a bit of the weeding. But not for the edging. I did choose a large Boston fern for the front porch to go on the wicker table between our two white rockers. My niece informed me Boston ferns are passe, the worst for shedding. Too late. It’s there and it’s staying til it dies. Which could be any day with my black thumb! It still pretty much looks just as it did when I bought it. I'm holding my breath. Then, I picked out a few potted plants for the deck, all of which are already looking sad. The red geraniums that were full of blooms w...

                                                           Rain By Jill Sanders     As she headed for her sister’s funeral three hours south and three days away Barbara said to me, “I hope it doesn’t rain.”     Understanding the mood that rain sets, especially during a funeral service, I replied, “I hope it doesn’t rain for you, too.  I’ll be thinking of you.  Have a safe trip.”     Three days later, near 2:00 pm – the hour of the funeral, I stepped outside to feed my cats across the yard under the portico of the unattached garage.  The sky overhead suggested rain may fall.  As I emptied the bag of cat food into their bowl, the rain droplets began.  “Oh, no,” I said as I ...

 I haven't been on here for awhile because of issues beyond my control. BUT I've missed blogging and my blogger friends. Hope all is well with you! I made a quick trip to Tampa recently to visit my sister "Sue" who was quite ill and in the hospital as well. We were able to have five days together before I had to leave. While I knew she was gravely ill, we shared many light moments and many moments that we were just big sister and little, hugging and giving each other advice. She wanted to take me shopping while I was there, she said, "To buy you something pretty." My sister had perfected the art of shopping like no other human I know. She could tell you which was the very best mattress to buy. What household applicance would outlast all others and first and foremost she could tell you where the best clothes for women could be purchased in the very latest styles. She had one of each item in her closet. I borrowed a beautiful white cardigan one day to we...