Linda K. Sienkiewicz's Blog, page 56
July 6, 2015
At Peace
My late son Derek came to me in a dream last night. He parked his Hummer in the driveway and came inthe back door. He said, “Howzit going, Moms?”
I told him, “As well as can be. You know.”
He said, “I know.”
I asked, “Do you miss me?”
He wouldn’t look at me. He said he missed his Egyptian cotton sheets.
I offered him pot roast, his favorite.
He said he quit eating. Just gave it up.
I asked if he was cold. He looked cold, and much too thin. “I worry about you. What’s it like? Are you still sad...
July 3, 2015
Bad Language
Once upon a time there wereimpolite words. My mother taught menot to use the word “woman” to describe a, well, a woman. The implicationwas the word was crass. I was touse“lady.” My Aunt Vivian once told me “hot” was not a nice word. Use “warm.”
Apologies to my mother and aunt, but ladiesdon’t have warm flashes.
Were there any common words, besides the typical curse words, you were toldnot to use when you were growing up?
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June 30, 2015
In the Context of Love: Book Trailer!
Making a book trailer for In the Context of Love was as much fun and as daunting as it was to write the book. There were so many directions to go in, so many possible scenarios and scripts… how would I decide on just one? As it is with writing, you just have to do it. And then revise. Then scrap it and start over fresh. Show it to a few people. Hear them tell you what isn’t working, and then scrap it and start over fresh. Find the images and video that capture the mood you want. Work on the t...
June 29, 2015
Can Book Trailers Sell Books?
A book is for quiet time. A book stimulates the imagination to create its own visuals. Wouldn’tthat imaginative process be spoiledifyou watched a book trailer? Have we come to a point where we need a visual aid to sell a book? What does that say about books? Is thebook as a medium is cheapened by video, as itimpliesthe book alone is inadequate? These questions were raised in “The Awkward Art of Book Trailers”in The New Yorker a few years back.
Yet, ifvisuals cheapen a book, why do authors and...
June 26, 2015
What, Why, How: Joy Gaines-Friedler
WHAT?
To live is to be creative – we are all creatures of creativity. I mean, I remember figuring out how to tie my shoe laces. That’s creativity. The ants figure out how to get into the hummingbird feeder! I’ve worked cleaning common areas of an apartment buildings, as a phone solicitor, in my father’s manufacturing plant, as an office manager, and for one day at Burger King where I (creatively) took my uniform off, left it in the bathroom and walked out. At 21 I traveled cross country with...
June 21, 2015
No Need to Say I Love You
My father with me. My fatherwas an endless source of amusement, and I mean that kindly. He always had a joke to tell, a funny story, or he did something to make me laugh. He could take the two parts of whatever it was that I was crying over and make them whole again. He could fix anything from the tiny earring post to a motor. He taught me the value of epoxy glue and needle nose pliers. He taught me to tinker with things until they worked.
He also taught me to play with worms because he did...
June 20, 2015
Necking in the Willow Theater, Independence, OH
Photo taken after the devastating fire in 1976 Independence, Ohio, where I grew up, was a small town, but we were proud of The Willow Theater. It was built in 1950 in Art Deco stylewithone screen and a stage with bigred velvet curtains, and seating for950patrons on themain floor. As you can see in the ad below, it boasted “scientifically refrigerated air” and a “Cyclo Ramic” screen. When it first opened, you bought your ticket from someone whosat in a boothbehind a glass windowoutside the mai...
June 16, 2015
What, Why, How: Susanne von Schroeder
WHAT ?
Nature Photographer, gardener, outdoors person, animal lover (especially cats). Truth seeker: Who am I? Why am I here? What’s the purpose of life? These questions have been the driving force in my life from an early age on.
WHY ?
Photography (like many other art forms) is a way of expressing myself. It has opened my heart into seeing a beauty that my physical eyes cannot see.
Soul is the essence, the source of existence, the life force and the very fabric of this universe and every bei...
June 12, 2015
What, Why, How: John Jeffire
WHAT?
Christ, I was hoping you’d tell me! I do a lot, but “what” exactly I am I’m not totally sure. I write, I read, I coach wrestling, I laugh and drink beer with my wife, I teach at a high school. Of all those, I suppose “teacher” best fits what I am overall, and my most troubling student has always been myself.
WHY?
Linda, always with the hard questions! Why? Hmmm, well, because, as Whitman said, “the powerful play goes on,” and you can either rage or fold up, and my impulse has always be...
June 8, 2015
What, Why, How: Bunny Goodjohn
WHAT?
…poetry, prose and status updates:
. free verse, sestinas, sonnets, tankas, triolets,
. prose poems,
. novels, short stories, “cigarette” stories,
. comments, tweets, missed connections, for sale…
WHY?
When I think about having to write (think deadline or obligation or guilt) I feel wretched. I get horribly envious of people who don’t write. Maybe gardeners…or trombonists. How lovely to kneel down in the yard and grow things or make loud brave noises...
