Sydney Avey's Blog, page 4
January 18, 2018
Improving Our Social Interaction
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The West Valley Writer’s Critique group (Avondale, AZ) meets in a collaborative workspace, an increasingly popular concept.
Remember the social interaction in As the World Turns? The old soap focused on troubled relationships in a small town. I used to wonder how people who found time to hang around the office coffee pot gossiping and plotting revenge.
Today, the world sp...
January 8, 2018
Word Play: Random Examples of Well-Considered Words
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Writers who take time to playfully consider their words twinkle like stars in a black night. Through their choice of words, they offer unique perspectives on troubling issues, clear explanations of difficult concepts, and deep appreciation for life’s connective tissue. I recently stumbled upon several examples of fine writing that made me smile
1. Noted
Town fathers in th...
January 4, 2018
Two Book Reviews: The Canyon House and Silence
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The Canyon House by Janice Gilbertson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I met the Janice Gilbertson, author of The Canyon House, at a Women Writing the West Conference in Tucson, and write the West she does. Set in California’s Central Valley in the mid-twentieth century, the story is reminiscent of the days when allowing children to roam freely was considered formative instead of...
December 28, 2017
Preparing for the New Year
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Reflect on the past year’s events and embrace the coming year with hope.
The year is running out, and I’m preparing for the New Year. That space between Christmas and New Year’s Day invites us to reflect on the past year’s events and spring for a chance to embrace the coming year with hope. Although the practice of setting New Year’s resolutions has come under fire recent...
December 5, 2017
Backstory: Conversations Around the Book Table
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At Birt’s Bistro and Books in Surprise, AZ people gather to eat, browse for books, listen to music, and tell their stories.
The backstory is a literary device that details the happenings that lead up to a novel’s main story. Public functions also have backstories. Table and wall displays at book fests, art exhibits, or craft shows comprise the main event. But behind the...
November 29, 2017
Book Review: The Silver Baron’s Wife
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The Silver Baron’s Wife by Donna Baier Stein
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The Silver Baron’s Wife by Donna Baier Stein strikes a rich vein of pioneer history. The facts of Baby Doe Tabor’s life are at once typical for some women of her day (late 19th, early 20th century) and atypical. Many women like Baby Doe followed a husband west to seek a better life. Many lived in perilo...
November 23, 2017
Thanksgiving Traditions
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I have always cherished Thanksgiving traditions. In unsettled times, traditional celebrations offer the illusion that God is in His Heaven and all is right with the world. Don’t get me wrong. I believe in God and the essential order of the universe. But these days, it’s not so easy to recreate the Norman Rockwell tableau of the traditional Thanksgiving my parents’ genera...
November 14, 2017
Book Review: Phoebe’s Journey by Kathryn B. Collett
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Phoebe’s Journey by Kathryn B. Collett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Phoebe’s Journey: Part 1 Of Passion and Pride imagines the life of one of the Apostle Paul’s benefactors. I was intrigued when author Kathryn B. Collett told me that Paul devoted two Bible verses (Romans 16:1-2) to Phoebe. Paul described Phoebe as a sister, servant of Christ, and benefactor. He chose this you...
November 7, 2017
Grandma in the Ozarks: The Conversational Loop
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Last week, my husband visited Grandma in the Ozarks. The conversational loop she engages in resembles the crochet she used to do. She would work a pattern repeatedly in a circle until it was big enough to be a lace doily, or a tablecloth, or a bedspread. The difference between crochet chains and conversational loops and is that the thread of her thought is no longer tan...
November 3, 2017
Book Review: One Ordinary Sunday by Paula Huston
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One Ordinary Sunday: A Meditation on the Mystery of the Mass by Paula Huston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
One Ordinary Sunday by Paula Huston is tagged A Meditation on the Mystery of the Mass. That is three “M” words that raise red flags for many Protestants. I have always been curious about the difference between how Protestants celebrate Holy Communion and how Catholics cel...
