Linda K. Sienkiewicz's Blog, page 14

What, Why, How: David James

What:

In high school, I played basketball and had a cheerleader girlfriend. During practice one day, I was injured—calcium deposit, water-on-the-knee and a torn ligament, and the doctors put me in a cast for six months. Once I was no longer a basketball star, the girlfriend dropped me. That’s what started me on my writing path. I wrote god-awful love poems to this girl for months because I couldn’t deal with my broken heart through sports. After a while, I found I liked this way of expre...

My Late Dog’s Credit Rating

My Lab lived a long life. She was good natured and well behaved, a sweetheart and friend to all, even cats and young children who were terrified because she was a “big dog.” After getting to know this 68 pound chocolate bunny of a dog, those kids were enthusiastic in their love for her. She also worked with me in Pet-a-Pet therapy where I took her to visit hospitals and nursing homes. The last two years of her life, she had diabetes, which we managed well. My daughter adopted an abandoned kit...

Twitter: a billionaire’s sandbox

Should I stay or should I go? 

I joined Twitter in 2010 to meet other writers and connect with fellow MFA students. Over the years, I discovered other like-minded writers, well-informed tweeters, and scores of fascinating, diverse, and genuinely funny folks. Through another writer, I found a publisher to query, and that publisher bought my novel. After publication, I shared my book on Twitter. I got press and radio interviews. I’ve found terrific creative people from all over the world to...

Beer, burgers and books

A birthday burger:

I gave my husband a choice for dinner on his birthday: his favorite home cooked meal or hamburgers at Paint Creek Tavern. I know he can’t resist a good burger. I got out of cooking.

We were seated next to table of four exceptionally loud dudes. Bros having a night out. Yakking at the top of their lungs, howling, and chugging beer. I have a habit of watching people (more like staring, actually, trying to figure out what makes them tick and if I can use it in my fictio...

Ripple, Scar, and Story: Karla Huston

Poems with “roots in the stories people tell”

I met poet Karla Huston in the mid 2000s at a Walloon Lake Writers Retreat. She’s a gifted poet whom I respect and admire. She’s penned several collections, and has had the honor of being Wisconsin Poet Laureate in 2017-2018. Her newest release, Ripple, Scar and Story, is published by Kelsay Books. I’m pleased that she had the time to answer a few of my questions:

What was the inspiration for this new book of poems?

Because I was worki...

A Plural Primer

Can you spot the error in each of these signs?At my local Kroger.In a Pittsburgh Hilton hotel elevator.At a medical center pharmacy

Here’s the answer: the above signs should read DVDs, Live Music Thursdays and Fridays, and We carry all meds now (skip the shouty capitalization).

An apostrophe is never used when pluralizing a noun!

Apostrophes are for showing possession or contractions. Despite this, apostrophes are so often misused that we are accustomed to seeing errors.

...

What, Why, How: Jessica L. Walsh

Jessica’s latest, from Glass Lyre PressWhat:

I’ve been writing poetry since elementary school, and though I’ve tried to recall what prompted me to start, I honestly cannot remember. I wonder sometimes if it’s in my blood. My late grandmother, who was a difficult and emotionally distant person in daily life, nevertheless experienced a private, intense love of poetry. I’ve heard stories that she would prop a book up on her ironing board and sometimes become so engrossed that she’d burn one...

What, Why, How: Elizabeth Meyette

What:

When I watched Elizabeth Gilbert’s TED Talk on Creativity, courage surged through me to submit the novel I’d written for publication. I had just retired from my career in education, and publishing that book became my first retirement goal. I was very fortunate and Love’s Destiny was published the next year. My publisher wanted a sequel, and the rest is “a little history…a little mystery…a little romance.”

My stories are as diverse as the characters who whisper them to me, so I wr...

Silverware Drawers

Critters

The other day when cleaning sesame seeds and peppercorns from the plastic silverware tray, I noticed the varied assortment of forks and spoons we’ve collected over the years: a fork and butter knife from my late mother, spoons from IKEA, and various pieces from the first set of dinnerware we had over 45 years ago in our first home.

We lived in a two bedroom, one bathroom ranch in North Royalton, Ohio. The kitchen had a bread drawer with a sliding cover that had a hole just big...

What, Why, How: Ellen Meeropol

What:

I imagine my novels balancing on a tightrope stretched between the issues that are important to me (racial and social justice, the climate emergency, feminism) and the characters who live inside the stories that grow from those themes, characters who try to figure out how to make a difference in the world. My manuscripts never start with theme or issue—they begin with characters in some kind of trouble—but they usually end up there. I consider myself a member of the Kurt Vonnegut s...