Month: October 2016

News Squib#7- Happy 80th Birthday, Joe

img_0475It’s Squib Saturday. Time to share the best, most interesting (or most entertaining, or most outrageous) tidbit of information I’ve gleaned from all the stuff I’ve read this week. Today: Best Husband in the World Turns 80

 

I didn’t need to read anything to find fodder for this week’s squib. It happened right in front of my eyes. My wonderful, loving, generous husband, Joe turned 80 . He was not yet 50 years old when we met. Just 51 when we married. He was 52 when he became a father for the fourth time — to our son, Daniel.

How wonderful is he? Well, I have a friend who has known us as a couple for more than 20 years. To paraphrase what she says about my husband: “Every woman needs a Joe.” ‘Nuff said. Continue reading “News Squib#7- Happy 80th Birthday, Joe”

News Squib#6 -In Praise of Nasty Women

Extra News TodayIt’s Squib Saturday. Time to share the best, most interesting (or most entertaining, or most outrageous) tidbit of information I’ve gleaned from all the stuff I’ve read this week. Today: Donald “I-have-all-the-best-words” Trump finds himself at a loss for them.  

 

You just knew, watching Donald Trump in Las Vegas, that he was building up to saying something really bad as the final presidential debate rolled into its final half-hour. The interruption came when Hillary addressing the subject of entitlements and tax increases said that, yes, “my social security payroll contribution will go up, as will Donald’s — assuming he can’t figure out how to get out of it. ”  Donald leaned into his mic, and said: “Such a bitch.” Continue reading “News Squib#6 -In Praise of Nasty Women”

News Squib#5 – Down Memory Lane with Paula Hawkins

Extra News TodayIt’s Squib Saturday. Time to share the best, most interesting (or most entertaining, or most outrageous) tidbit of information I’ve gleaned from all the stuff I’ve read this week. Today: Author of “The Girl on the Train” Admits to Low-Brow Taste in Books as a Child 

 

the_girl_on_the_trainI was happy to read recently that Paula Hawkins, the British best-selling thriller author of The Girl on the Train, and I  shared a guilty pleasure as children. With the U.S. opening of the movie based on the book a week ago, the New York Times commemorated the occasion by featuring Paula in its By the Book segment. When asked what kind of reader she was as a child, Paula replied, “Not a particularly high-brow one. I read a great deal of Enid Blyton.” Continue reading “News Squib#5 – Down Memory Lane with Paula Hawkins”

News Squib#4 – Bring Back the Leeches

Extra News TodayIt’s Squib Saturday. Time to share the best, most interesting (or most entertaining, or most outrageous) tidbit of information I’ve gleaned from all the stuff I’ve read this week. Today: Waging War on A Superbug

 

So, at least there is one issue all the countries in the world agree on.  Well, 193 countries, anyway. (And, it’s not that Donald Trump is an overweight, mendacious, narcissistic, tweeting buffoon.) What they all agreed on at the recent annual meeting of the U.N. General Assembly in New York is that we face one common enemy: the Superbug. Continue reading “News Squib#4 – Bring Back the Leeches”

What Makes A Good Story? (Behind the Scenes#2)

Crumple Paper, Notebook And Pen With Cup Of CoffeeBehind the Scenes is a series of occasional posts about my efforts to write a new thriller (working title, Book 3) and about the challenges, setbacks — and perks — of returning to a writing life. Today, the first of two parts: What I Learned In 3 Days with Story Guru, Robert McKee 

Plotting is my very favorite part of the creative process.  I scribble. I doodle. I get to play God for a little while: I push the characters around, and have things happen to them, and have them do things to others. I jot down key bits of dialog. Usually, I know how it’s going to end for the main characters. I do all this with pen and paper.

Blank Screen

But there comes a time when I have to go to my desktop and keyboard to start writing chapter by chapter, pecking away letter by letter. Faced with a blank screen, I usually do what all, most, many writers do. I procrastinate. This time was no different. I rearranged the spices in my spice cabinet; I checked the expiration dates on all the condiments in the refrigerator; I made a very, very detailed schedule for writing. And, then I picked up all my notes and jottings, and wondered if I even had a good story?

“Only one way to find out,” I told my husband one day last April. “Gotta book myself into one of those three-day writers’ seminars.”  I cleared my throat nervously. “It costs $865. But, you know, the guy’s brilliant.” Continue reading “What Makes A Good Story? (Behind the Scenes#2)”