I am not a fashion maven. I am a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl, unless I’m wearing Chico’s Travelers Collection, which look stylish but feel like pajamas. (Need I say more?) I have one favorite pair of shoes for each season and I wear them until they fall apart, at which time I spend hours online Read More
Category: Ohio
Conquering Fear
Yesterday I spent the day with writer friends from the Northeast Ohio chapter of RWA, participating in a workshop presented by Bob Mayer. He spoke about many things in his six-hour talk, including turning ideas into stories, recognizing and developing conflict (my biggest problem, perhaps), outlining and plotting, characters’ needs and flaws, and story arcs. But for some Read More
Five Reasons to Go to a Writers’ Conference
I spent this weekend at my RWA chapter’s Cleveland Rocks Romance Conference, which was wonderful. So wonderful, in fact, I thought I’d share with you some reasons why, if you’re a writer, you should attend a writers’ conference too. 1. You meet other writers. Writing is a solitary occupation. We spend a lot of time in Read More
Author Interview: Christy McKee
Today fellow Ohio girl and NEORWA chapter-mate, Christy McKee, sits on the hot seat. Christy’s latest book, The Truth About Lilly, was released on Valentine’s Day. Welcome, Christy! Tell us a bit about you. Where do you live, and how long have you been writing? Thank you so much for having me today. For starters, Read More
Another visit to Akron
Akron’s been on my mind lately, as I’ve been there more in the past two weeks than I have in years. Okay, only twice, but still. Last week my husband and I went to a concert (Wilco, in case you were wondering) at the Akron Civic Theater, which is truly one of the oddest looking 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
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