A friend of mine posted on Facebook this week, “Some days I just don’t feel like writing a novel.” I can relate. It’s days like these, when I am exhausted in mind, body, and spirit, that inspiration, not to mention motivation, utterly fails to make an appearance. Frustrating on days when I am due to Read More
Writing History Blog
Intersections
The other day as I was driving around town with the kid, he asked what people did before there were traffic lights. I replied that policemen helped to direct traffic, but honestly, I was just guessing. That got me thinking: when were traffic lights invented, and when and where were they first used? Truly, I Read More
In Which I Have Very Little to Say
This morning before breakfast I spent about an hour and a half writing a lengthy, thoughtful post to weigh in on the latest round of romance bashing sparked by a recent article in the New Republic. I reviewed some of the responses–in the Washington Post, Kirkus Reviews, and Eloisa James’ interview on vulture.com–but when all Read More
In Defense of Romance
A few weeks ago I attended a portion of the annual Cleveland Rocks Romance conference, sponsored by the Northeast Ohio chapter of RWA. The fabulous Christie Craig was the speaker–if you ever meet her, ask her to tell you the story of the Festiva, the cowboy, and the burning mattress. I was laughing so hard Read More
Western Reserve School of Design for Women
It’s been interesting to me lately how often I get inspired by presentations to the DAR. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, since for the last two years I have been in charge of selecting the speakers, but whatever. In our most recent meeting, the speaker was discussing the history of the Cleveland Institute of Read More
The Ohio City Bridge War
After my last Cleveland post, a friend asked if I would write something about the Ohio City War. “The what?” I thought I knew my hometown pretty well, but it turns out I knew squat.The origins of the “Bridge War” lie in Cleveland’s inherent schizophrenia. There are two sides of the city: west of the Read More
Writing History–Places
Not only is this post a day late because I was at a hockey tournament all day yesterday, but it’s another recycled post from the defunct blog, since I just got back from Florida and my work life is insane. I promise to be more original next time. ******* This week I am shoving aside Read More
The Queen of Ohio
As promised last time, today I will delve into the life of one of North America’s most notorious conwomen, Cassie Chadwick. Cassie L. Chadwick. Source: Wikipedia. There is quite a bit of confusion concerning the events in Cassie’s life–I read no fewer than four different accounts in the space of an hour last night–so I’ll Read More
Visiting my Hometown
This week I am starting a departure from all things English (gasp) to spend some time closer to home. I live in Cleveland, Ohio. I was born here, and have spent well over half my life here. Living in “the Mistake on the Lake,” especially during the 1970s , gave one a bit of an Read More
Weather and Other Curiosities
This is a recycled, and late (sorry), post from a group blog that is now defunct. But recycling is good for the planet, and it’s too damn cold to think of anything but how I wish I was somewhere where my car didn’t get stuck in the driveway, where I could venture outside without Arctic Read More