Photo: Judy Berk It was great to hear a couple of you refer to having a heightened sensory awareness as we progress through our 6 weeks together. It’s exactly what I want each of you to experience, and to integrate those elements into your writing. As mentioned, you will probably notice you are more […]
A Glimpse Into This Week’s Sensory Writing Workshop — Teresa Piccari
Yesterday was the day, probably the last meal I will eat at Cafe Miranda RocklandWe went for lunch and shared Grandma’s Spaghetti & Meatballs that Chef Kerry Altierolearned to make in his childhood home in the coal country of Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, also my home state, 108 miles from my Philadelphia roots. I imagine our formative […]
Chef Kerry Altiero — Teresa Piccari
Photo by: Alfons Morales, Catalonia Spain
Memories from a childhood in Communist Prague…when there were lines for everything…the longest were in front of the bookshops.
“Books have been a symbol of resistance on many occasions when there has been an abuse of power.”
Author Monika Zgustova
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100012049328454
Read her article In Celebration of Bookstores Reopening.
Dominican-American writer Julia Alvarez says reading has always been about “being together apart” and is more so now than ever, during our sheltered days. “Stories help us to survive the worst of times,” she says in this video promoting her new novel, Afterlife. The best books, she says, don’t provide answers in difficult times. “They […]
Blue Dimple Patterned Egg, stoneware
artist: Simon van der Ven
Source: Disney’s 101 Dalmatians
Authors and readers, like screenwriters and audiences, love a good meet-cute scene that sets characters on a romantic, although often bumpy and winding, trajectory.
It’s what keeps us up late turning the pages, or binge-watching programs we can’t get enough of.
According to Your Dictionary, meet cute is:
A plot contrivance by which two protagonists in a romantic comedy first meet under unexpected and often comically adverse circumstances.
The application of meet-cute goes back to movies of the 30s and 40s, particularly in the romantic comedy sub-genre known as screwball comedies, where screen couples navigate a hilarious path to coupledom. You can see these plots played out in movies such as Bringing Up Baby and The Philadelphia Story.
A meet cute according to Urban Dictionary: Scenario in which two individuals are brought together in some unlikely, zany, destined-to-fall-in-love-and-be-together-forever sort of way (the more unusual, the…
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The Girl Who Could Fly Image by Anje Stieglitz
We’ve all heard about the idea of the artist as lone wolf. Sheltering during the Coronavirus pandemic is giving those who dwell in the creative arts an opportunity to figure out how well they fit into that concept, or don’t.
What sparked this article was a blog written by Jason Horejs that came across my FB newsfeed early this morning. In it, he talks about the challenge of overcoming isolation that artists grapple with, and how they address it.
As a gallery owner, I get to spend my days interacting with artists and collectors – it’s easy to forget that most art is created in solitude. Creating is so different from the pursuits of the rest of the world, that even among friends and family you can feel alone.
…
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Dad’s Italian Eggs
Many years ago I learned that a fail-safe method for getting uninspired, reluctant or reticent students to write, was to ask them to write about food.
In my experience, I have found this especially helpful when people are new to one another and me, and might be a little shy about allowing a glimpse into their writing or world.
People respond to food! I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised then to discover over the last several days beginning at Easter, when I posted a couple food pictures on my personal Facebook and a particular group page I’m on – that people sat up and noticed. They reacted and asked questions!
In all honesty, I found this somewhat amusing. I am not really known for being a cook, or being overly domestic, for that matter. I mean, even I don’t count those activities among the short list…
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If you want to endear a reader to your work one of the best things a writer can offer, is humor.
Wanting to be entertained or escape are among the top reasons people pick books up. Honing your ability to convey humor on the page and adding it to your writing toolbox can prove invaluable as part of your overall writing arsenal.
Especially when times are dark, humor is a reliable path to healing our minds. And a relief from burning a hole in our psyches through too much stinkin’ thinkin’ about negative things that may never come to pass.
Think about how many jokes, visuals and even family and friends sharing stories about toilet paper on social media or personally you’ve come across in the past few weeks – a lot, right?
The lack of toilet paper is pretty much something we’ve all been able to relate to, while…
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the 21st century bohemian 
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