Talya Tate Boerner's Blog, page 50
March 13, 2017
I don’t want to be timely.
I don’t want to be timely. I want to be timeless instead.
Timeless, writing stories relatable today, tomorrow, yesterday, fifty years from now. A few lines of prose that grips your gut, makes you weep or howl with laughter. Words that spring from the page in bight blue ink, as blue as peacock feathers.
Timeless. Enduring. Like a number two pencil. A number two pencil purchased for a nickel at the bookstore at school, the bookstore just outside the principal’s office, up the stairs, behind th...
March 8, 2017
Book Club Questions for The Accidental Salvation of Gracie Lee
Since The Accidental Salvation of Gracie Lee released in January 2016, my book has been chosen for discussion by lots of book clubs around the country. This has been sooooo exciting for me and most surprising. When I can (and when I’m invited), I attend the book club meetings. So far, I’ve attended about sixteen in Texas and Arkansas, plus I have more scheduled this year.
Whether I attend or not, I’m usually contacted by the host and asked if I have an official list o...
March 5, 2017
A Perfect Picking Up Sticks Sort of Day
Yesterday was a such perfect day because we spent it working in the yard, and there’s nothing much better than a breezy, sunny, pre-spring day digging in the dirt. (After having been under the weather for several days, I was extra grateful to feel energetic.) John raked and bagged while I cleaned out the front beds. We have so many trees all around which means lots of sticks, especially since the Northwest Arkansas wind of late seems to blow West Texas strong.
What a fun thing, pulling away...
March 3, 2017
February Book Reviews (2017)
February Book Reviews (2017): What did you read in February? My choices ran the gamut from fluffy young adult to middle school memoir to informative historical. I journeyed from Kennett, Missouri to the Kingdom of Miamas. As with any trip, some were more enjoyable than others. Each offered something. (In order of how I read them.)
My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorryby Fredrik Backman
Oh my goodness. This sweet, magical tale is about a little girl and her granny, about savoring ...
March 1, 2017
Savoring February
Today is March 1. Ash Wednesday. The beginning of Lent. In the words of Dr. Seuss, how did it get so late so soon? I believe there’s value in taking a look back. If we aren’t mindful, it’s easy to forget to remember the good. And if you’ve followed me for any period of time, you know I chose SAVOR as my One Little Word for the year. I’m trying my best to savor each day. I crammed lots of good in February 2017.
Savor—to taste, smell, relish, delight in. Doing something slow...
February 25, 2017
Delta Resort & Spa! (McGehee, Ar)
I’ve been trying to get down to visit the Delta Resort & Spa near McGehee, Arkansas for almost a year. Finally I did! I was invited to visit and speak about my novel, The Accidental Salvation of Gracie Lee, at the resort’s monthly Girls’ Night Out event. And earlier on the same day, I did a reading in town at the McGehee Public Library.
I’ll say right off, the entire town of McGehee, Arkansas—the library patrons and Girls’ Night Out participants—REPRESENTED Southeast Arkansas in a big way. W...
February 22, 2017
Arkansas Delta in Purple
Right now in the Arkansas Delta, the color purple is putting on a show. Fields are dressed and ready for an early spring, the color explosion proof that the soil is warming to the point of supporting blooms. This particular bloom, common henbit, looks anything but common when it blankets an entire field. It has a fancy name, Lamium Amplexicaul. Yes, henbit is a weed, but I’ve always been fond of it. And I’ve never really understood why we don’t consider it vase-worthy.
From the roadside, fie...
February 20, 2017
My love of writing (from an early age)
Once there was a little girl who liked to write…
In case there was ever any doubt, I present proof of my love of writing. Proof from a very early age. Proof I found at home in Momma’s buffet. The bottom drawer is crammed with lots of linens and random treasures.
Like these embroidered aprons. These teeny tiny things are no bigger than bibs. Maybe they are bibs but the pocket made me conclude apron.
Being at home on the farm involves Nancy Drew sleuthing about a lot of thi...
February 14, 2017
Valentine’s Day 2017
Happy Valentine’s Day 2017! I’m popping in to bring you Valentine greetings and to show off a sweet gift I received in the mail from my friend Dorothy. The bag, decoupaged gold and decorated with vintage style embellishments, took me back to those Valentine parties held in elementary school once upon a time.
Dorothy said she’s been in a crafty mood lately. I was happy to benefit from her creativity!
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Inside lots of goodies waited, including a fun heart mobile made of metal and wire. Love, lo...
February 13, 2017
Fitzgerald Museum: how much the heart can hold
Last April, I toured the Fitzgerald Museum in Montgomery, Alabama. It’s taken me this long to write about it.
In the Beginning…They met at a country club in Montgomery, Alabama. Scott was a mid-western boy, a 2nd lieutenant assigned to a nearby infantry. He was a Princeton dropout. Zelda, an uninhibited southern belle, was the seventeen-year-old daughter of a wealthy Alabama Supreme Court Judge.
Zelda needed a husband who could maintain a certain lifestyle. The lifestyle she’d always known....
