Liz Flaherty's Blog, page 116

Remember I am still me.

My friend Debby Myers is smart, funny, and talented. She's a mom and a grandmother and an important part of Peru, Indiana's Ole Olson Memorial Theatre. Oh, and Alan would want me to mention she's Alan Myers' wife, too. Debby also has Multiple Sclerosis. Her diagnosis is fairly recent, and she's been having quite the dance with her new partner. Whenever anyone sees her, they ask how she's doing. I saw Alan this afternoon and asked him how she was doing. I'm going to say right now: we ask...

Sendin' the Kiddo to Grandma's

This week, I sent Story #2 to my editor (Bwah-ha-ha-ha!!!... Oops, did I actually type that?), and have to confess it’s a little like sending the kiddos off to Grandma’s for a few weeks.

First, there is the initial sense of accomplishment. My story is finished. It is safely delivered into the hands of my editor, and I didn’t forget to pack the essentials like clean undies and boo-bear.
Then there is the sense of relief. I don’t have to write. I can if I want, if I have another story knocking to...

To Compare or Not??

by Margie Senechal

When writers submit their query letters they're encouraged to compare their book or do a mashup--my book is Harry Potter meets Charlotte's Web.  This is conceivably so that the agent or publisher immediately knows what he's handling. In my example, apparently spider wizards.

And when a book is marketed, it's done again. "This is the next Gone Girl." How many times have you heard or seen that one?

I hate to be told it's the next Gone Girl. Because, number one, it never is...

A Letter to My Daughter

I'm going to take a little detour around writing today, dear wordwranglers, because...well, sometimes writing about writing just isn't enough.

Dear bebe,

Something happened last week, well, over a year ago actually, but the verdict was just handed down, that has kind of stopped me in my tracks. A man, who happens to be white and happened to be a great athlete, was convicted of raping an unconscious girl on the campus at Stanford. That man who was convicted on three felony charges was subsequent...

Books that Changed My View of the World

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15 Authors

Sometimes when I can't think of something to blog about, I take a run over to Facebook and...er...steal an idea. This morning, I saw this:

15 Authors who have influenced me: The Rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen authors who've influenced you and that will always stick with you. List the first 15 you can recall in no more than 15 minutes. 

I'm going to make my list in 15 minutes or less, but when I add notes to the names, I'm...

Yard Work and Sacrifice

I’m writing this post on the evening of Memorial Day, as my holiday weekend winds to a close and I’m switching gears for my work week to begin. Hubby is in the living room watching another one of the numerous military movies that have been running this great weekend. The black and white ones are his favorites, like “Sergeant York” and “Best Years of our Lives” to name just a couple.

At present, I’m hot, sweaty, and exhausted because—like so many people on a three-day weekend with glorious weat...

Serenity, Now

 Today I am at the coast--traveling between borders, staying in Longbeach, WA and going into Cannon Beach, Astoria, and wherever else my sister and I decide to go.

It's supposed to rain today, but as we say around here, a day at the beach is better than a day at home. And on our coast, rain or wind is pretty much the norm and expected. 

We might be able to see these cool ships as they are docking in Illwaco, the next town over from where we are staying. But, we'll be leaving before we...

Welcome, Kathleen Gilles Seidel

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One more day

by Liz Flaherty 


Pretend if you will that today is May 29 instead of the 30th. Because the 29th is the 45th anniversary of the day Duane--also known as the boyfriend, the roommate, and "honey"--and I got married.

We were 23 and 21. He was just home from Vietnam and I was a single mom long before it was fashionable. I used to say my son did the actual proposing, because the second time he met Duane, Chris spouted "dadadadad" and took off walking. He was 10 months old and quite capable of ch...