Nature might be spontaneous, mostly I am not.
Spontaneous insects A spontaneous reaction: hundreds of angry hornets, acting on instinct to protect their nest. But it was the landscape crew that needed protection. They had cut down a dead tree along the walking trail above the driveway and discovered the tree...
Generous: when the giver becomes the gift
My husband Keith is “tit-for-tat” generous, that is, he tries to give at least as much as he receives. That and the Five-Minute Friday prompt, got me thinking about what generous really means. Here are some examples from Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary: The...
The root of the matter in my eighth decade
A week ago, I celebrated a landmark birthday plus one, entering my eighth decade, time to question the root of the matter: aging. The root problem I noticed it two decades ago, the pull of gravity on my face, my breasts, and now my derriere. Once I was like a young...
Top Ten Myths about Book Publishing
Lawrence Knorr is President and CEO of Sunbury Press, based in Mechanicsburg, PA—his home; everyone else employed by his publishing company works from home. With 15 imprints and over one hundred titles published per year, Sunbury is a medium-sized press. Knorr has...
The road to publication is long and winding
Three years ago, at HippoCamp 2019, I encountered Randon Billings Noble as a debut author, reading from her brilliant essay collection Be With Me Always, and as a presenter for her inspirational breakout session, “Crafting the Lyric Essay.” When I read that she was...
It takes discipline to write like a musician
Lillie Gardner has discipline, as both a writer and a musician. She holds a PhD in piano performance and is a piano instructor. And she meshes the discipline of music into the discipline of her writing. At HippoCamp22, in the session titled “Write Like a Musician,”...