Writing Life Stories

97 Years Old and Keeping On

2012-01-20T19:19:00.000-05:00

Today I had the pleasure of visiting with a dear cousin who is 97 years old! The best part is she is not bedridden, she is sharp as a tack and was able to climb up into my SUV even though she uses a walker since she fell and broke her pelvis a while back. She has broken both hips and recovered. I think she is absolutely amazing. She is a joy to talk with. She knows all the news in the family and

Mothers and Babies and Cousins

2012-01-16T23:33:00.000-05:00

Since this blog is titled Writing Life Stories, I'll share one with you tonight. One of my favorite relatives was my adult cousin Vivian. I can see her now -- always smiling and telling humorus stories. When she and her mother came up from Florida to visit our family on the farm, my brothers begged them to sing. The mother and daughter sang in perfect harmony old songs and some of the popular

Mary Mike at Writers Night Out

2012-01-14T03:02:00.000-05:00

Tonight, January 14, I attended Writers Night Out where my good friend, Mary Mike Keller, was featured reader. She did an excellent job and looked beautiful. She is one of my favorite poets, but you aren't likely to see any books coming out with all of her work. She seldom submits her poems but enjoys writing and sharing them with her friends at readings and with her family. I call her Mike, and

2012-01-03T23:38:00.000-05:00

Snow fell last night and covered our woods here in the mountains of NC. I snuggled under my covers with Tiger the cat on her blanket close by. On the floor in their little beds, Smokie and Sunny, who are visiting me this week, curled up like furry balls. Smokie and Sunny sleeping in their little beds Tiger on her blanket I am one who seldom gets cold. I like cool weather and usually,

NEW YEAR'S EVE - A POEM

2012-01-01T00:31:00.000-05:00

New Year’s Eve by Glenda Beall With Champagne toasts rowdy revelers prepare for another bright new year. Loved ones, dear friends, from years gone by appear to me at midnight. Nostalgia grips me in its glove. Auld Lang Syne evokes my tears. This party is a wake for the passing of time. Celebrating is not in me.

Forty Years of Marriage and still in love

2011-12-30T00:39:00.001-05:00

Happy 40th wedding anniversary to Stu and Gay, two wonderfully good people. My sister, Gay, has the biggest heart of anyone I know. She has a Master's degree in Counseling and is a compassionate and caring person. I am grateful to have her in my life. I wrote a story about her that was published in an anthology. I could write a book about her. Stu Moring, an engineer and super

HAPPY NEW YEAR, Make it a great 2012

2011-12-26T01:15:00.000-05:00

Christmas is over for the year 2011. With my computer acting up, I did not get the opportunity to wish my readers a Merry Christmas, but I hope you all had a wonderful day. I watched Jimmy Stewart again in It's a Wonderful Life. Everyone should be mandated to watch that movie once a year just to make them realize that every life touches another. If any of us had not been born the future of others

2011-12-18T03:00:00.002-05:00

Age is a learning experience that can’t be gained in the best college or university. With age comes wisdom and mature thinking. It is not our number of birthdays that make us wise however, it is the hurts, the losses, the tragedies we face and overcome. It is also the celebrations large and small of successes and how we accept them. With every loss of someone we love, our lives change in some

WILD TURKEYS FROM MY WINDOW

2011-12-10T18:15:00.000-05:00

It has been nice to have some time, with no pressure, to read blogs by other writers. Today, thanks to Kat Magendie, I found this blog by Terri. Terri is an inspirational speaker among other things, but she writes of going back to when she wrote for the fun of it. I think we become consumed by the thought that we must publish a book or many books. In fact, that is the goal of most writers when

Through My Window on the Woods

2011-11-29T21:11:00.000-05:00

As I sit here at my computer and look at the snow flakes through my office window, I am procrastinating. That is probably my biggest failing. With a cluttered desk and a list of phone calls to make, lesson plans to complete, and a list of Christmas gifts I need to start, I want to do nothing but watch the fat gray squirrels who do not procrastinate. A pair of them hustles over the brown leaves,

New Website for Nancy Purcell, author

2011-11-26T23:34:00.000-05:00

A good friend and fellow writer, Nancy Purcell, who lives in Brevard, NC has set up a website, http://www.nancypurcellauthor.com/ Nancy is a smart, experienced, educated writer and teacher of writing. She is a NCWN West member and representative for writers in Transylvania County. Nancy heads a writing group there. Her site has much to offer writers. I have subscribed to it.

NCWN Fall conference - Then and Now

2011-11-20T17:48:00.002-05:00

The 2011 North Carolina Writers' Fall Conference, with the highest attendance in many years, drew writers from everywhere, especially all over western NC. I was there this weekend. I hope you were, too. As I visited with the writers and leaders of other organizations and publishing houses, my thoughts turned back to how I became affiliated with the state writers' network and my first Fall

Andy Rooney - He and I liked the same things.

2011-11-15T01:40:00.000-05:00

"I like things you put things in." Andy Rooney said this according to a news reporter speaking about Rooney on a Sunday news show. I had to smile. I have never said those words, but I, too, like things you put things in. Don't you like baskets, and don't you like to find things to put in them? I love to find a pretty basket at a good price. I have never bought expensive baskets. After all, I

My Dog Rocky, will take any pet bed when he needs a nap.

2011-11-07T02:00:00.000-05:00

You might think that if Rocky was too big to fit into his own bed, he would know that a smaller bed would be uncomfortable for him. But he thinks any bed any where is his. Rocky is my shadow. Where I am he is close by. On a day when I was busy at my computer, I happened to look back and there under a card table, in Tiger the Cat's bed, Rocky decided to curl up and make himself at home.

Should Authors have a Marketing Plan in Place before submitting the Novel?

2011-11-07T01:29:00.000-05:00

My friend from Brevard, NC, Pat Davis, was back home in the mountains recently and we shared lunch at City Lights Cafe in Sylva. Pat writes fiction and has been shopping around a manuscript for a while now. She had good news to share with me. Two publishers have shown interest. One of the publishers wanted to see the marketing plan Pat had for this book. This certainly makes the point I have

Fears and Phobias

2011-10-26T23:58:00.000-04:00

Tonight I watched a man overcome his fear of heights by being hoisted high in the air, and a woman put her hand in a bucket of worms although that was one of her biggest fears. The treatment for those phobias, a fear that is irrational and obsessive, is exposure therapy. It works. At one time mountain roads terrified me. I clung to the car door or the hand grip in the car when we drove over

A Fight for Life

2011-10-21T00:50:00.000-04:00

How much suffering must one person bear? In August, while in the hospital recovering from surgery on her hip, her husband died suddenly on a Sunday morning. In deep shock and pain she whispered, "I am going into a shell and stay there." A few weeks later, at home, ill with an infection and still in great pain, she was unable to attend the memorial service for the man she had been married to for

2011-10-13T22:40:00.000-04:00

I love a rainy day, I love a rainy day.All day the rain fell slowly, the leaves showered down, red and gold, and my world could not have been prettier.I hear the rain now at 9:00 p.m. as it hits the metal top of the carport in back, and I can hardly keep my eyes open. What is about a slow rain that soothes our nerves and whispers calming thoughts? For me, the rain means welcome isolation. Alone

Festivals, Pumpkins, and a Winter Day

2011-10-09T00:31:00.000-04:00

I can’t decide what to call this – Pumpkin Season or Winter Surprise or Festival Fun. This weekend the weather changed drastically from mild to windy and cold. I refused to turn on heat in my house. I love the coolness, but Tiger, my cat, having no warm hearth to curl up on, has taken to my bed. She is the first cat I’ve ever had that wants to sleep with me. I don’t like having a cat on my bed.

2011-10-08T02:43:00.000-04:00

Americans spend 50 million dollars each year on their dogs. I heard that tonight on the Anderson Cooper show. Makes me ashamed of how little I have spent on Rocky. I could have bought him nice clothes, hats, scarves, capes with sparkles, raincoats, tiaras, but he just doesn't seem to enjoy wearing anything but his "birthday suit." Rocky patiently waits for a treat or just a tiny piece of

Silas House - Do you know who he is?

2011-10-04T20:20:00.002-04:00

One of the reasons I am looking forward to the NCWN Fall Conference in Asheville,NC November 18-20 is that Silas House will be giving the Keynote Address on Friday night at 8:00 p.m. I keep reading about this man and hearing about him from others, and I know this will be an excellent speech. Have you visited his website and his blog? I think you will be impressed by Silas House when you read the

My Late Night Views on Publishing and Marketing

2011-09-30T23:16:00.000-04:00

For many years I've said in order to sell your book, you must first sell yourself. I know from my own experience, I often buy a book at a reading because I like the author and the way he presents himself. If I hear someone read and he doesn't interest me as a person, I have no desire to buy his book. I've heard publishers say they don't like to publish a writer or poet who can't read well and

Family is Fodder for our Stories

2011-09-26T16:00:00.024-04:00

I had four brothers. Each one had a major impact on my life. I’ve written about them in memoir and in my poetry. As poet and teacher Scott Owens said, if we make a list of all of our family members, we can use them as fodder for our writing and we will never run out of subjects. Hal Council Last weekend our family gathered to honor and celebrate the life of my brother Hal who died suddenly

Recipes from Pat, poet and writer

2011-09-22T00:13:00.000-04:00