Linda K. Sienkiewicz's Blog, page 59

Are you a Child of the Seventies?

Hamburger Helper hit the market in 1971. Leftovers were stored in Tupperware.Fruit leather or fruit rolls (not Fruit Roll Ups) came out in the 70s and were greatwhen you had the munchies. Dannon Fruit on the Bottom Yogurt was also popular.If you were health conscious, you sprinkled wheat germ on everything from ice cream to casseroles, and meditated daily. Pita bread was hip, and so was anything with bean sprouts. My friends would hang out at Perkins Pancake house to drink coffee and eat bean...

Highlights from AWP 2015

The AWP Conference at the Convention Center inMinneapolis, Minnesota was one of the best I’ve been to– well organized, fascinating, and as always, high energy. Here are a few highlightsand moments I’d like to share:

Chocolate bars wrapped in replicas of book covers.

Publishing a book can be a lesson in humility.

Transformation is what makes a story.

The act of writing is tied to our own desire for transformation. We want to be wiser. We want to be enlightened.

“I love pretty sentences about e...

Words of Wisdom from AWP 2015

From Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota:

Chocolate bars wrapped in replicas of book covers.

Publishing a book can be a lesson in humility.

Transformation is what makes a story.

The act of writing is tied to our own desire for transformation. We want to be wiser. We want to be enlightened.

“I love pretty sentences about exploding helicopters.” – Benjamin Percy

Novels are built scene by scene. Every scene should have that mystery: “What’s the matter...

Don’t be mad. I’m going to AWP

I’m going to the AWP Conference and Bookfair. I’m going to post pictures on Facebook and Instagram. I’m going to blog about it. I’ll tweet. My writer friends who are not going to the conference (aka, simply, AWP) will probably get really annoyed with me.

But, hey, you posted all those pictures on Facebook about that awesomelunch I wasn’t invited to, so you can handle it.

For those who don’t know about AWP (Association of Writers and Writing Programs), it’s billed as “the essential annual dest...

You don’t need a green thumb

Crafting for me is a form of meditation. My focus almost always shifts to a happy place when I work with my hands. I often find myself solving problems in a way that I don’t when I’m trying to solve problems. The process of making something gives me a feeling of calm mindlessness while still being in the present. It’s great stress relief.

Making stuff is in my genes. Growing up on a farm, my father learned basicconstruction, engine repair, and how to be creative, such as using a Model T mot...

You don’t need a green thumb to make this

Crafting is a form of meditation. My focus shifts when I work with my hands. I often find myself solving problems in a way that I don’t when I’m trying to solve problems. The process of making something gives me a feeling of calm mindlessness while still being in the present. It’s great stress relief.

Making stuff is in my genes. My father learned construction and creative buildingon the farm, such as using a Model T motor to operatea thresher.Later, he went into tool and die and manufactur...

Writer to Writer with Ellen Meeropol

On Hurricane Islandby Ellen Meeropol is a psychological/political thriller that follows five characters involved in a nightmarishcrisisat a secret terrorist interrogation center on a small island off the coast of Maine — Professor Gandalf Cohen, who was abducted from an airport check-in line by the FBI; Henry Ames, an FBI special agent who isn’t sure the elderly female professor is a terrorist; Tobias, a rogue agent with a taste for torture; Austin, a newly hired female guard whoseloyalties b...

The Magic Pencil

Or… How We Make Memories:

Miss Pastor’s 4th Grade Class. That’s me in the front row, third from the left.

My fourth grade teacher, Miss Pastor, at Hillside Elementary was a stern woman. Her reprimands were shamingandherglare could turn a kid’slegs toJell-o. I shook insidewhenshe calledmy name in herslow, drawn-out, “I know what you’re doing” tone of voice. Since I was a chatty daydreamer, I gave her plentyof opportunity to call my name.

Miss Pastor isn’t my strongest memory fromfourth grade,...

The Magic Pencil or How We Make Memories

Miss Pastor’s 4th Grade Class. That’s me in the front row, third from the left.

My fourth grade teacher, Miss Pastor, at Hillside Elementary was a stern woman. Her reprimands were shamingandherglare could turn a kid’slegs toJell-o. I shook insidewhenshe calledmy name in herslow, drawn-out, “I know what you’re doing” tone of voice. Since I was a chatty daydreamer, I gave her plentyof opportunity to call my name.

Miss Pastor isn’t my strongest memory fromfourth grade, though.

Earlier that year...

First Time Novelist at 63 – Belva Plain

Have you ever felt you were too old to start that novel you’ve always wanted to write?

Belva Plainwas called the“The grandmother who wrote best-sellers.” Her first novel, a romantic epic, was published in 1978 by Dell when she was 63 years old. What’s more, her debutnovel, Evergreen, stayed on the NYT best-seller list for 41 weeks in hardcover, another 20 weeks in paperback, and was later made into a mini-series.

Belva went on to write over20 books that made the NYT list. At her death in 201...