Writer Ellen Morris Prewitt Blog

Those People on the Wall

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on November 13, 2019. Posted in General, LOVE. 4 Comments on Those People on the Wall

I know what my ancestors looked like because their portraits hung on the wall. This is something I’ve always taken for granted. The portraits hang at what we call “505” (the house has a real name under the National Register of Historic Places—the Joseph Henry Morris House—but no one calls it anything but 505.) This man,...

Righting Groups: Certified Organic

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on November 7, 2019. Posted in General, HOMELESSNESS, Writing. No Comments on Righting Groups: Certified Organic

This often happens. I lay awake at night thinking of the perfect topic for the next day’s Righting Group. Then I arrive at group. Lately, I’ve been doing RGs at new places that haven’t done RG before. So there is a recruitment spiel (even a bit of bribery with chocolate) and a period of uncertainty about whether the group...

Quit Your Bellyaching

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on November 3, 2019. Posted in General, Writing. 6 Comments on Quit Your Bellyaching

You know that thing the Universe does when you’ve been complaining about something, and it says, “Ha! That’s nothing!” then shows you an example of how it could be SO MUCH WORSE? Well, the Universe did that when I was researching how exactly Don Quixote had been published (I thought the novel was serialized, and in a...

My New Righting Group Book

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on October 30, 2019. Posted in General, HOMELESSNESS, Writing. No Comments on My New Righting Group Book

Y’all, I’ve been so busy getting my new book into the hands of folks who can use it, I haven’t stopped long enough to tell you about it. Most of y’all know for 8 years I was part of a weekly writing group of Memphians who had personally experienced homelessness. We wrote; we held public readings; we hosted...

Central Station Hotel

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on October 26, 2019. Posted in General, LOVE. 2 Comments on Central Station Hotel

When I heard Memphis developer Henry Turley was renovating the old central train station into a hotel, I was ecstatic. When I heard he was turning the current ticket office for the train into a bar, not so much. I ride the train. I use the ticket office and waiting area when coming and going on the train. I did not want developers to take a...

South Main, Y’all

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on October 19, 2019. Posted in General, LOVE. No Comments on South Main, Y’all

In my neighborhood, Saturday mornings are: guests brewing on the sidewalks outside coffee shops women so new to their bicycles that I walk in the street to stay safe an elderly hat-wearing man who could be a prophet or celebrity. Or homeless. headphones and horn honks and posing for photos in front of the Blues Museum cowboy...

A Little News….

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on October 14, 2019. Posted in General, Writing. 9 Comments on A Little News….

The first chapter of one of my novels has advanced to the 2nd round in a national contest. IT HAS NOT WON! But it advanced. I share this news with y’all because I have learned to celebrate minor victories along my writing path. Sort of like when I went to the University of Virginia and the football team was so bad that we began...

NOLA Magic

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on September 30, 2019. Posted in General, LOVE. 2 Comments on NOLA Magic

Do you ever find yourself quoting yourself from an earlier conversation you’ve had? Me, too. So here’s a post I posted on Facebook recently. I thought I’d share it with y’all. Tom and I walk Evangeline down the street, and I remember when we first arrived in New Orleans almost eight years ago. I spent every day...

You Might be a Nerd If….

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on September 28, 2019. Posted in General. 8 Comments on You Might be a Nerd If….

+ if you get all excited about a book on how to read water (the origin of my enthusiasm can be found here), you might be a nerd. + if, when you do get excited about esoteric things like reading water, you insist on telling everyone who swims into your orbit FOR WEEKS, you might be a nerd. + if you misplace your pedometer (because you have...

Gestalt Mystery Writing

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on September 14, 2019. Posted in General, HOMELESSNESS, Writing. 2 Comments on Gestalt Mystery Writing

I wrote the first Coot Long mystery in between double hip replacements. My left hip was replaced in January of 2015. As I recovered (once I got to the point I could focus), I lay in bed flat on my back so the new hip wouldn’t wrench out of the socket, and I read mysteries. Before I went under the knife, I’d solicited mystery...