Collaboration is the secret sauce to a happy writing life Planning my business trip to Manhattan back in the 1980s, I decided I’d stay at the Algonquin Hotel. I’d heard of the Algonquin Round Table, the group of wits, writers, actors, and critics who lunched together daily for the decade…

Tales from (mostly) tiny towns in (mostly) the Midwest I don’t remember why my husband and I had stopped forty miles north of Interstate 70, our usual route across Ohio. Maybe we were heading home from a B&B in that northeastern corner of the state. Or maybe we were bored…

What is the backstory of this revered fabric? Sometimes the initial effort is the best. Linen, for instance, is thought to be the first textile people created. Bits of spun, dyed, and knotted wild flax fiber were found in a cave in the Republic of Georgia which dates back 30,000…

Writing style guides make life easier for writers “On matters of style, swim with the current, on matters of principle, stand like a rock.” Thomas Jefferson Though Thomas Jefferson had a knack for expressing ideas applicable over many circumstances, he probably was not thinking of style guides for writers when…

Free your prose of crutch words. “Blurby, blurby, blurby,” shouted C. Robert Constable, my high school English teacher. He stared in mock anger for a beat at the guilty student. His eyes magnified into huge googly-eyes by the thick lenses of his glasses. Then, with drama, he broke and cracked…

Take it from here and write what happens next. Looking for inspiration? Try these prompts. 1. Fourteen-year-old Jamie turned to their friend Sam as they walked in the hall. “Wanna go for a ride in my Mom’s new car after school? She’s out of town and Dad’s working late.” 2…

A tiny community preserves its heritage and leverages artistic brilliance My hike was magical. A patch of primeval prairie had survived in western Ohio, untouched and pristine. I walked on the protective boardwalk along the Stillwater River. Rare wildflowers nodded in the sun, scattered among the grasses. Land in my…

Samoan siapo and elie express a Polynesian heritage The syrupy “Oldies” tunes in the white wedding tent stopped. Relatives and friends, gathered in the glorious Virginia garden, clinked glasses. Soft conversations hummed. Like a thunderclap, Polynesian drumbeats began. A young woman burst from the back of the tent and barreled…