Liz Flaherty's Blog, page 60

That Damn Hot Rod... by Bradly Ferguson

 Brad Ferguson and I went to the same school from start to finish, although he was...ahem...older than me, so I really only knew him as Cindy's older brother. After I'd graduated and was enjoying being single--maybe a little too much--I met Duane Flaherty and a few of the guys he played music with. One of them was Brad. He was funny, smart, and scary talented. Fifty years later, he's still all that. This is a short story he let me read and, when I begged, said I could use in the blo...

Bitter pills by Terri Hall

       My friend Terri Hall joins us today. The story she tells is important because it's so sadly familiar. It ends a little abruptly because the situation is rife with abruptness and non-endings and time spent in limbo--by both people who need care and the ones who love them. The ones who give that care.  On Saturday, December 22, 2018, my mom called. She was crying hard and in pain. Trust me, that is not at all like her. I knew she was having  terrible pain and...

If You Woke Up Rich…

From Peru Indiana Today in February, 2018. I don't work at the library anymore, but it was a lovely job and a wonderful place to spend work hours. I miss it, but I'm glad to have the time to put into other places. 
There was this meme on Facebook today that said, basically, if you woke up with 500 million dollars in the bank, how would you quit your job? I've been thinking about it ever since I saw it. And I can't help but wonder about something.
Why would you want 500 million dollars? Why...

Cutting it in layers by Liz Flaherty

Every now and then, my two kinds of writing cross paths, and the columnist writes from the perspective of a romance author. I hope you don't mind.

I'm a storyteller. I write contemporary stories about people I know or I am or I want to be. I try to tell them in layers, so that the story’s residents are people and animals you care about and the events are ones you believe. When you reach the end of one of my books or columns, I hope you sigh with pleasure because you feel like you’ve been there...

The best of things... Liz Flaherty

When I can't think of things to write about--or, more likely, when I'm in danger of writing about the same things too often--I make lists. My favorite this or that or the other. Since I've complained fairly incessantly about the last couple of years, which haven't been my favorite anything, I thought I'd make a list of things about 2018 that were good things. Happy things. I'd love it if you'd offer up some things in the comments, too.

1. Best movie. I don't watch all that many, but I loved Ma...

THE WEST WINDOW

This was printed Saturday, December 22, in Peru Indiana Today. Apologies for such a quick turnaround on the blog, but...well, it's Christmas Day. I hope you're having a great one.

Every now and then…well, most days, I look out the west window of my office at the trees and the fields and the big round bales of hay that manage to convince me they are deer if I only see them out of the corner of my eye. And I get philosophical. I’m not sure if that comes with age or experience or weariness, but t...

Believing...

I don't know when I wrote this, but it's a repeat from last year. The grandkids mentioned near the end are 21 and 22 now, so it's been a while, but I was happy to find it. I hope you enjoy it. I hope you believe. Merry Christmas to all of you, and thanks for continuing to read the Window Over the Sink.

Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to. - Fred, in Miracle on 34th Street
I'm a Christian, so believing in and embracing the “reason for the season” was ne...

A Christmas Short Story: The Christmas Wish

I wrote this short story one Christmas when I was feeling overwhelmed by everything that needed doing. This was my way of giving myself a pep talk! As this is my last blog post before Christmas, I'd like to wish readers and my fellow Word Wranglers Happy Holidays and a very Merry Christmas!

The Christmas Wish

Maggie pushed her way through the crowd, feeling grumpy and tired. What idiot leaves her Christmas shopping until December 23? She sighed. It wasn’t like she’d wanted to leave the shopping...

...in everlasting words... by Liz Flaherty

"A word is deadWhen it is said,Some say.I say it justBegins to liveThat day."  Emily Dickenson
As a writer, words are some of my favorite things. I love word games even though I'm not good at them. I love looking them up, using them in sentences, using ones in writing that I wouldn't use in conversation because...really, extrapolate? I can't even pronounce it correctly.

It's an ongoing thing. All the way back in first grade, when we got our first paperback Dick and Jane readers, I fel...

A Girlfriend for Christmas

by Ava Cuvay
(Cheering ensues...
Aly! Aly! Aly! You're so amazing!...) Merry December, everyone! I haven't written a word for two months or even drawn more than a few cursory illustrations for my second children's book, and I'm wrangling with the pain and discomfort of a pinched nerve (Getting old...Boo! Hiss!). But this just means I get to talk about my writer pal, Aly Grady, and her new Sweet Holiday Romance Novella: "A Girlfriend for Christmas"!!! Yay!!


Blurb:When a blizzard prevents tea...