Elizabeth Engstrom's Blog

It's been two years since my mother passed away, and every now and then I am blindsided by onrushing waves of grief that are so intense and severe that they verge on disabling. They don't last very long, because I refuse to dwell in the guilt that always accompanies grief, but when they happen, they always surprise me.

My mother and I were good when she died. We had a stormy relationship from the very beginning, but by the time she breathed her last, we were good.

Last week I realized that the...

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My friend, not long ago, was whining about some slight that she was still churning over, when I tossed off the oft-used, but ill-considered phrase: "Oh, forgive and forget." She stopped in her tracks, looked me squarely in the eyes and said, "I will never forget, and I have no idea what forgiveness means."

Hmmmm.  I had to think about that. This happened several years ago, and I'm still thinking about it. Of course we don't forget. And what is forgiveness, anyway? I have an idea these days...

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I mean it. You. Now. It only takes a second to send a little healing energy via the deity of your understanding to one of your kids, your spouse, a co-worker who is in trouble, our troops overseas, their families struggling to manage without them, the starving children in the world… take your pick. If you want, you can even move beyond prayer and extend a little mercy in the direction of those who have wronged you, those who have moved against us, those who knowingly and consciously commit...

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Fiction is about people in trouble. When the trouble is resolved, the story is over.

A short story is a piece of fiction under 15,000 words. It has all the requisite elements of fiction: a protagonist, an antagonist, and a major point of conflict. The bigger the conflict, the stronger the characters. The stronger the characters, the better the story.

Your protagonist is always a reluctant hero. He is flawed. He is dragged out of his comfortable world into uncertainty. He changes internally...

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I'll be teaching The Art of the Short Story for Lane Community College on Thursday nights, 6:30-9:30pm, January 7-February 18 at the Downtown Center, room 321. Registration number is CRN 32718. To register via ExpressLane, if you have an L-number, go here.

As with all things, the more you put into a class like this, the more you will get out of it, but we'll have fun and you'll come out of it with some serious short story experience.

While short stories seem to have fallen out of favor of...

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Next Sunday, November 1, I'll be the guest of honor for an hour-long webinar at www.wiredwriters.net. I think the event begins at 1pm, with chat with Don McQuinn, and you'll have an opportunity to submit questions which he'll ask me when I show up from 2-3pm.

Rumor has it that Terry Brooks will join us, if he's available.

Got questions about writing, publishing, agents, editors, protagonists, antagonists, short stories, articles, essays, science fiction, fantasy, discipline, or the writing...

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Contracts are due to land on my desk today for the publication of my latest book, Martini Moon.

This is sweet for me for a variety of reasons.

First, I love this book, and am more than delighted that I will be able to share it with my small, deeply-disturbed fan base.

Secondly, this indicates to me that the economy is on the upswing. Not only did the Dow close above 10,000 yesterday, and a headline today reads "Recession Ends in 79 Metro Areas," but I got a book contract.  That means my...

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I should have been prepared for talking-head backlash on the Nobel Peace Prize being conferred upon President Obama, but I wasn't.

First of all, everybody's got an opinion, and in this instance, the only opinion that matters is the Nobel Peace Prize Committee. So everybody else can just shut up for a minute and try to figure out why they deemed him worthy of his extraordinary honor.

We are so divisive, so ready to engage in conflict, so partisan. No matter what the news item, the antithesis...

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I haven't been feeling well lately, so haven't posted, because I was uncertain as to whether my impatience with Jon and Kate and the whole Letterman affair was due to my feeling low, or if I was really fed up.

Well, the verdict is in. I'm fed up.

Jon and Kate: You should be ashamed of yourselves.

You've had your fifteen minutes of fame,  you've entertained some folks, your children are adorable, and worth way more than you're giving them.

Kate: go home. Tend your children. You have EIGHT of...

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A well-written synopsis of your book will encapsulate all that you wish to accomplish, from beginning to end. This blueprint will also help you circumvent a wealth of troubles during the actual construction of your novel.

 A synopsis will include your protagonist's comfortable state of mind before trouble was visited upon him. It will include his reluctance to step into the problem. It will include his agreement to resolve the conflict so he can return to his peaceful life. It will include...

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