Liz Flaherty's Blog, page 44

A Rose by Any Other Name by Alana Lorens

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One of the things I like to do in my novels is add something personal, some small detail that comes from my own life. In A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME, this detail is the name of the fictitious high school where the 20-year high school reunion takes place in the also-fictitious town of Exeter, in northwestern Pennsylvania.

I’ve named it George F. Wright, Jr. High, after my father. He wasn’t an educator, at least not at that level. He did teach math when he was in the Air Force, back in th...

A Rose by Any Other Name by Barbara Mountjoy

123rf photos
One of the things I like to do in my novels is add something personal, some small detail that comes from my own life. In A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME, this detail is the name of the fictitious high school where the 20-year high school reunion takes place in the also-fictitious town of Exeter, in northwestern Pennsylvania.

I’ve named it George F. Wright, Jr. High, after my father. He wasn’t an educator, at least not at that level. He did teach math when he was in the Air Force, back in th...

Life's Illusions by Liz Flaherty

From Canva - mine was fuzzy...

I'm angry this week.

Usually I try to be at least semi-diplomatic on this blog. I do object (over and over, I know) to name-calling, misinformation, and downright lying, but quite honestly I don't think those are things that should be protected by diplomacy. 

I'm starting this column pre-dawn Wednesday as I wait for 2022's snowmageddon to sweep in. This morning I read about two school shootings. One at a college in Virginia where two officers died and one in Minnesota...

Nan’s World—River’s Edge by Nan Reinhardt

I’ve always been a dreamer. From the time I could hold a pencil, I invented people and places that I could escape to. Sometimes, parents worry about a kid who lives in a make-believe world. Fortunately, my mom didn’t—she allowed me that world because she believed with all her heart that I would be a writer one day. When we were kids, my sisters used to tease me unmercifully about not being in reality, claiming that I lived in “Nan’s world—a nice place to visit, but we certainly wouldn’t want to ...

BANNING BOOKS by Liz Flaherty

 “Banning books gives us silence when we need speech. It closes our ears when we need to listen. It makes us blind when we need sight.” ~~ Stephen Chbosky

This happened in 1991. After all these years, I can hardly believe it came to pass, but it did—book-banning really happened at our school. It made me know then that the more things changed, the more they stayed the same. I said then that we had to choose our battles—we still do. I wish I was better at choosing them. I wish I’d fought this one h...

It Was Time by Colleen Donnelly

 

After close to fifteen years with my beloved pug, Mia, suddenly “it was time” for her to go.

I adopted Mia with a little age on her and teased her often that I got her “used.” Always a poker-faced pug, I still believe she found that comment amusing.

I dubbed my pensive dog “The Perfect Pug” early on when she not only grasped that life had rules, but believed it right for everyone to follow them. A bark to go out was to be honored as much as a call to come in. The course her nose took us on walks...

I Don't Talk Funny--You Talk Funny by Liz Flaherty

Let's talk about traveling. Want to? 

It's one of my very favorite things, from the first trip in my memory--Pennsylvania--to the one I just came home from: Nashville, Indiana. 

Honestly? I don't remember much about the trip to Pennsylvania--I was only five, I think. I remember sleeping in a chair that stretched out flat in a motel room, that my cousins had cool tricycles, and that there were sidewalks all over the place on Jones Street in Hollidaysburg that made riding them so much fun. I remembe...

On Gift-giving and Wedding Registries by Cathy Shouse

Weddings are one of my favorite events to attend, and I’ve had the good fortune of going to some spectacular ones. They were extra pretty to observe, with flowers that took my breath away, wonderful food, and venues that come to mind when I think of the most lovely places I’ve been. I like to see the bride’s dress and what vows the couple chooses.

Weddings have actually become more enjoyable for me over the years. There’s something about a couple joining their lives that is thrilling and brave. S...

Needs, Wants, and Precedence

Last night, I dreamed about buying a new car, but the area was flooded and we had to go through water to do everything. Not in boats, just in water. It felt warm and I wasn't especially scared, but...water? I AM scared of water. When I got into my kids' hot tub, I didn't take a deep breath until I was in there and seated, and then I had to worry about getting out. (The half hour in between made it all worthwhile, believe me.)

This was an idiotic dream. To begin with, my car is only two years old ...

Write what you know. Really? by Jan Scarbrough

Write what you know. Really?

So, you want to write a book. Then write what you know, you’re told. Well, what I know isn’t much. Should I limit myself to that? Once a psychic told me I couldn’t dare write about a psychic because I wasn’t one. Guess what? I wrote a story with a psychic medium in it.

My friend Dale, herself a psychic medium, said this about my book: TIMELESS is a beautiful love story that intertwines two different lifetimes, and Jan has done an incredible job of introducing reincarna...