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Reading the Vision Out Loud: Part III (or Slowing Down)

I’ve slowed down. Reading aloud the first eighty pages whizzed by, but now it’s dragging a bit. This is as it should be. As the story grows, more strands are woven in, and I must be more analytical to make sure I don’t drop a stitch (how’s that for a knitting metaphor by a non-knitter?).  I notice things my characters,...

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The Next Loop

I told y’all I was going to keep you in the loop—how many times have I made such a promise then let my commitment fall by the wayside? I’m trying to have more stamina this time, so here goes. The next step in revising: I’m about to embark on reading The Bone Trench out loud. I’ve incorporated all the action points from...

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A Fine Line

I’m walking a fine line here. Let’s set aside for the moment the fact that I’m glad to be walking any kind of line these days. Let’s focus on the fine line. The one that exists between surgeries. One hip done. One to go.  What do we now know? * Don’t do a hip surgery without zippered shoes or velcroed shoes or something...

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Easter Questions

My priest today said during the Easter season to keep asking questions, so here are mine: * Why do we ask, “Why didn’t she leave him?” Why don’t we ask, “Why does he keep hitting her?” * Can we view the world as a blob rather than a pyramidal hierarchy or dichotomy? No more top and bottom; no more this and that. Can we see it as us in one messy...

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Do It Your Way

Some of you have given up on me. You’ve quit asking “How’s the writing going?” You’ve even stopped asking, “Are you still writing?” Honestly, I don’t blame you. I gave up my law practice in 2001. At the turn of the century. Fourteen years ago. Fourteen years. In that time, I’ve published a lot. A lot. You can read all about it on my Achievements...

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Gone Girl, Ellen Style

Hip rehab, yes. But obsession in writing a new novel too. That’s why I’ve been so absent—the combination of these two life facts have been deadly to blogging, for which I apologize. BTW, I’ve missed being here. 🙂 Here’s my latest: * The University of North Carolina was eliminated from the NCAA men’s basketball tournament....

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I Saw God

Graffiti. A bare tree. My dog’s pink tongue. This is where I’m seeing God these days. My Lenten discipline this year for the forty days preceding Easter is to see God every day and share my sightings on my Facebook author page. I’ve had many, varied Lenten disciplines over the years. During my childhood, mostly no sweets. As...

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The Gift of Doll God

When I showed up at the psychiatrist seeking help for my night terrors, the first question the doctor asked was whether as a child I had played with dolls. I was incensed—a thirty-something lawyer in charge of my own life, and he was reverting to some Freudian hooey? Better he should have asked why as a child I insisted on climbing higher and...

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Walking Toward the River

Every morning and every afternoon I walk toward the river. The river flows past the oversized window at the end of our hallway. Sometimes when I walk, a behometh ship passes, rusty hull slicing the air. At other times it’s the train passing, the cars laden with graffiti. On the rarest of occasions, the train runs in front of a ship and...

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