Notes From the Toolbox
Disenchanted Peace
More than anything— other than living a writer’s life— I dreamed of becoming a famous actress. Fame was essential. It was the only level of validation that would prove to my family I wasn’t a self-serving wastrel. I studied the craft, auditioned, performed, and I...
I Love you; I Love you— NOT!
Jump back to the first time I went to make groceries in New Orleans. My oldest son was in the cart. He wasn’t strapped in or harnessed and often climbed back and forth between the seat and the cart, and I never gave it a second thought— Remember that. We zipped around...
The Five A.M. Writers Club
Writers have a built-in hunger for advice. Born of insecurity, I think. Or maybe I say that because my insecurities have been throwing a party ever since the final feedback came in on my manuscript. Still, I stand by it. Writing is hard. Much harder than anyone can...
I Did Not Know That
I was reading Clementine and the Family Meeting by Sara Pennypacker. Eight-year-old Clementine and her dad were building a new dining table because her mom was having a baby, which was going to throw the entire seating arrangement of their family of four out of whack,...
Writing “As If”
Now that the 1960s is considered historical fiction, I may not be able to refresh your memory, so let me expand the scope of your sitcom knowledge with a little trivia about the Emmy Award winning sitcom Hogan’s Heroes (1965-1971). Set in a Nazi German prisoner-of-war...
The #1 Rule for Writing
If you’re a regular reader of these Notes from the Toolbox, you may remember I wrote my first story at the age of seven. It wasn’t a homework assignment. No adult suggested I give it a whirl by tempting me with lessons, which is how I came to play the flute and study...
A Faint Cold Fear
Fear stopped by. He arrived a few days after the feedback from my editor. His timing as impeccable as Maggie Smith’s, only I’m not laughing. He just barged in. No mask. Didn’t even attempt to social distance. I gave him the cold shoulder but he’s refused to leave. I...
The Inevitability of Return
Bang the drum, toot the horn, and ring the chimes for victory!— No, I didn’t snag the agent or the book deal, but thanks for believing and sending those positive vibes— my developmental editor sent the last round of feedback. It’s not too shabby. I’m so proud of you....
Get Yourself An Editor
Jump back— to 1991 and the film Fried Green Tomatoes based on Fannie Flagg’s novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café, starring Kathy Bates and Jessica Tandy. Bate’s character, Evelyn, is an unhappy, restless forty-something housewife who is “too old to be...
Post-Writing Blues?!?!
Breaking News— Round two of the Big Edit Revision is complete. Yay! I love how the manuscript has changed from what I thought was nothing more than a simple story of a woman owning her independence to a full-bodied journey of a woman on a rocky road to forgiveness....