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Mom told us: “Just sell it or give it to the kids [her grandchildren] and they can sell it.” She had promised that I would inherit her home, the house I designed and supervised in building, ordered the cabinets, installed the tile backsplash and the tile floor and walls in the bathroom and the entryway…
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The Director of a writing event responded the other day to my application for a Fellowship. I thought I was a good fit when I sent it off. Connection to the West was essential, a writer without major accomplishments, no book out nor a book deal in the making. I have been writing for decades…
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NaNoWriMo offered me a very specific goal for three years: 50k words in 30 days. I wrote over 70k. During April, National Poetry Month, I wrote the draft of a poem each day + posted poetry prompts for several years running. Here I am blogging. One of my longterm goals was to be published in…
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“Marriage still ain’t equal, y’all. It ain’t equal. I tell women that whole ‘you can have it all’ — mmm, nope. Not at the same time. That’s a lie. It’s not always enough to lean in, because that s— doesn’t work.” — Michelle Obama Some would consider me a second-wave feminist. This is because I…
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My husband said to me this morning, “You are always in teacher-mode.” As a result I posted a warning and got my ears boxed. Actually several times, and I deserved it at least once. I have been irritating people I like and love with posts on Facebook. Here’s the one I defend: The death and…
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It was a Saturday in June. My husband has been talking about that day 11 years ago when I was completing my last MLA residency and my mother was dying. I did not know this about my mother, and he says now how he remembers how happy I looked when I gave my speech. I…
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Southern Poverty Law Center tracks hate crimes from racist and the political right and left. They make a difference. More than forty years ago, our friend Bunny told me that she donated $100 each month to charity. Her food budget was less than half that. I was stunned that she was able to afford this. And…
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All this month, I have been writing for National Novel Writing Month (NaNo). My early goal, before November began, was to complete a science fiction novel. I had written 15 k in April, and hoped about 7k of it was worthwhile. But as November approached I lost confidence. I have written several novels—seriously. The…
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Translations are a bitch. If readers—especially those with no great interest in other cultures or mythology—want a fast-moving, understandable fantasy tale, this might be just the ticket. I want history and truth and anthropology. I want art. This translation is modestly literate and probably relatively accurate. Despite imposition of semi-iambic pentameter and use of modern…
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This morning Gary and I walked the length of the beach to the north. We were out for two hours. A little more. We started early, but it is a holiday weekend, and there were many people on the beach we didn’t know. Most of them had loose dogs with them. Several of the dogs…
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IMPERFECT PATIENCE 