Writer Ellen Morris Prewitt Blog

Our New Surroundings

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on July 12, 2016. Posted in LOVE, Writing. 4 Comments on Our New Surroundings

We’ve finished the beach house. I told y’all about the narrative I’d created to guide the process along. I’m only gonna share one photo, or else I’ll go crazy showing you my whole house. This is a guest bedroom, which actually gives you a good idea about what the house looks like: The Memphis bedroom I need to...

A 4th Moment in Mississippi

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on July 3, 2016. Posted in GOD, Racism to Reconciliation. 10 Comments on A 4th Moment in Mississippi

In the assemble hall at Power Elementary School once a week we’d gather for sing-alongs. Our wooden chairs had squeaky black-hinged seats that flipped up when not in use. Sit too far back and, if you were a skinny, skinny child like me, the seats flipped up when in use as well. In this cavernous space with its regimented rows, I’d belt out...

Don’t Tell Me about Your Assault Rifle

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on June 15, 2016. Posted in General, GRIEF. 8 Comments on Don’t Tell Me about Your Assault Rifle

I no more want to know you like assault weapons than I want to know what kinky things you do with a porn magazine in your hand. You see, if you’ve moved past guns for self-protection into defending your right to own war weaponry, that’s a fetish. And—I’m not trying to be rude—I simply don’t need to know that about...

Jesus Hanging on the Bathroom Wall

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on June 13, 2016. Posted in LOVE, Writing. No Comments on Jesus Hanging on the Bathroom Wall

In the pouring rain, across a highway divider in an unknown town, I sit at a red light, listening to the rain thump the car. Gone are the jokes about the cheap hotel room that cut the tension while we toured the tiny downtown where trees squared the block and the rotunda stood tall. I fell in love with the sidewalks so straight, but then we...

Like a Hawk

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on May 27, 2016. Posted in HOMELESSNESS, LOVE. 2 Comments on Like a Hawk

You see, I’d just held a fundraiser for Outreach, Housing, and Community, the organization June Averyt founded to end homelessness. She also founded Door of Hope, which is where I met her when we started Door of Hope Writing Group. She died. I’ve told you about it here. Wanting to do something in her memory, I held my first popup...

Thank You for the Soul

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on May 25, 2016. Posted in GOD, HOMELESSNESS, LOVE. 2 Comments on Thank You for the Soul

When the dark night of the soul overtakes me and I can’t sleep for wondering how on earth I could’ve so terribly wasted this wonderful life I’ve been given, I sneak down the stairs, carefully feeling with my toe for the edge of each step so I don’t stumble. Patting the door jamb, I close the door behind me and turn on...

Trusting in Life

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on May 23, 2016. Posted in General, GOD. No Comments on Trusting in Life

The retreat had not yet begun. I was walking beneath the live oaks, crossing from the dorm room I would share with my cousin and aunt to the building where we would practice restorative yoga for two days. The gulf breeze gently blew, and shadows danced on the St. Augustine lawn. I halted, gazing at the slip of blue sky peeking through the...

The Waterways of Hurricane Katrina

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on May 18, 2016. Posted in Writing. 8 Comments on The Waterways of Hurricane Katrina

I have a lousy sense of direction. No, that’s not it. I have difficulty translating directional information into an understanding in my head. This failure is pervasive in my life. Driving—hell, walking. I am totally missing a directional chip in my head. Yet, here I am, writing a novel that demands I understand the incursion of water...

In Case You’re Following Along

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on May 17, 2016. Posted in Writing. 10 Comments on In Case You’re Following Along

Today, I finished polishing the first ⅔ of Jazzy and the Pirate. That means I have ⅓ to go. I’m not giving away too much to tell you the rag-tag group of characters has arrived in New Orleans, ready to save the city from the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina. Many questions have been answered. About the Pirate’s agenda. About...

Spiritual Bottleneck

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on May 10, 2016. Posted in GOD, HOMELESSNESS. 10 Comments on Spiritual Bottleneck

Early Wednesday morning, the man who’d spent the night on the streets walked the hallway at St. Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral. He stopped at my table, lingering. He did not look happy. I think of this church hallway as the “neck” between Sister’s Chapel, where we hold the church service attended mostly by those living on the streets, and...