Linda K. Sienkiewicz's Blog, page 53

The only permanence we know

Each loss evokes all losses. We long for permanence, for our children to remaincuteand lovable, for our parents to never leave us, and for our loves to always stand by our sides. Lifeis constant change, however, and every change represents a loss of what there was before. Fall has become a difficult time for me. Four years ago today I lost my eldest child to suicide. Two years ago on October 31, I lost my mother.

So, I have a clear understanding of life’s impermanence, yetin a strange way, I...

What, Why, How: Yancy Caruthers

WHAT?

Military narrative non-fiction, stories that could be fiction, but they aren’t. I began with Northwest of Eden, my own memoir of my experience as the second-in-command of an Army Emergency Room during my year-long deployment to Iraq. I had dabbled with writing short stories and op/ed before, but this was deeper, because it was true. One of my author friends asked me (in a nice way) “Why did you write a memoir? You’re nobody.” That is exactly the point. I am one of millions of people wh...

Goodbye Ancient PC

WhenI tried to start my writing PC, it talked back to me with a loud “Phfft,” as if to say “forget it, fool.” And then it smelled bad, like a burnt computer fart.

This was Old Faithful, my steady friend, something like aStepford Husband that did all I asked of it. Afriend built it for me at least 15 years ago.AllI wanted was Word—no internet because I didn’t want the distraction while writing, nor the risk of malware causing a crash. It had a wonderful little mouse, a square monitor, and an e...

Writing No Orderly Process

My novel doesn’t start at the beginning.

Is this an inside writing joke? No.What I mean is the narrative in the book isn’t ordered chronologically. It wasn’t always that way, but when it was in chronological order, the opening chapters of In the Context of Love read like a YA novel. It is not.

I sweatedbullets of self-doubt while doing major scene shuffling in the early manuscript.The hardest part in shaking up the order was finding the best opening. There were four scenes that I thought mi...

What, Why, How: Ashley Cadaret

WHAT?

I help guide individuals and businesses through the creation of a web presence – from website strategy to design and coding to training users how to use WordPress. I also mother two young boys and blog (rather sporadically) about living simply, motherhood, work, and the intersection of all of these.

WHY?

I’m equally right and left brained, so working on website feeds both of these. I get to immerse myself in the worlds of creativity and logic at the same time. I also love getting to k...

My Book as a Clutch Purse

Since 2009, I’ve recycled hundreds of dictionaries, encyclopedias, art books, books on Shakespeare,Stephen King novels, and even Little Golden Books into clutch purses and handbags, to sellon Etsy. I’ve rescued books from dusty shelves, the trash, garage sales and library used book sales.And now I finally got to makea clutch purse from my own book.

For this, Idecided to try something entirely new —a box clutch — rather than one with side gussets. This meantan afternoon oftrial and error. Call...

What, How, Why: Rachael Hanel

Photo by Steven Pottenger

WHAT?

Writing nonfiction from the heartland. Unintentionally, my themes seem to center on early, tragic death. It’s not the easiest stuff to write; perhaps it’s time to back away from that? But I don’t envision myself as someone who’s going to write about rainbows and butterflies.

My first book, We’ll Be the Last Ones to Let You Down: Memoir of a Gravedigger’s Daughter, addresses my early years growing up in cemeteries and the fallout of my dad’s unexpected death w...

Fairy Tales Come to Life

Once upon a time… October 1st was the annual Rochester Posed, where live mannequins turned storefronts into storybook pages. I knew them all because my mother read to me when I was a girl. When I learned to read, one of my favorites was a thick collection of Brothers Grimm tales, legends and folklore from the Billy Goats Gruff to Hansel and Gretel.I wonder how many parentsstill read these wonderful magical taleswith all their foreboding darknessto their children?

Taking pictures was a challen...

What, Why, How: Katie Li

WHAT?

Somewhere In Between, a Young Adult/New Adult crossover novella about two friends who find a portal to another dimension. They use the this “in-between place” to avoid the stress of their everyday lives in high school, then later when they reconnect after graduating from college. What they don’t realize is that every time they enter, they alter reality.

WHY?

I wanted to write about some of the issues that my generation is facing. Making decisions about the future is daunting, and often...

Kisses Still Melt Hearts

My granddaughter L was collecting red maple leaves on our walk through the neighborhood Sundaymorning after she’d spent the night with us. I loved watching herrun ahead, searchingfor a fallen leafmore perfect and redder than the last one.I can’t believe it’s already fall. September 29th will be my eldest son’s 36th birthday. It’s been four years since he’s been gone.

When Land Iwalked Clementine through Mount Avon Cemetery, wespotted the resident deer. We stood very still andthe deerwalked ac...