Last week I attended a women’s luncheon in downtown Orlando and got to chatting with a lady about handwriting or longhand, as we used to call it. I thought of the long hours I spent in first and second grades, pencil in hand, putting marks on scratchy, lined paper. Then once the block letters were…
I wrote this article yesterday in honor of my dad, Clifton J. Charpentier, and fathers everywhere on the day reserved just for them. Our fathers come in all shapes and sizes, colors and temperaments. Some people have dads who don’t share the same DNA but are their fathers in the truest sense of the word.…
I often do feel tense, but that’s not the type of tense I’m referring to now. I thought I’d spend some time talking about verb tenses today. Hang on…before you click to another page, read on. This might give you something to think about.
Okay, let’s first do a short grammar lesson just so we all…
Everyone should have someone in his or her life like my husband Bob. He is my biggest fan, someone who believes in me and the importance of what I do more than I can even begin to grasp. He carries around my cards and books and is quick to share a story about my classes…
Pain is defined as acute physical, mental or emotional distress or suffering, and it’s something each of us experiences. It’s universal. We all have the aches and pains of sore backs and joints that have supported us for a lifetime, the all-too-often hurts of unkind words and thoughtless acts, and many bear the invisible scars…
At the grocery store on Friday, I found a recipe for bean soup, picked up all the ingredients—ham, turkey sausage, onion pinto and white beans, bay leaves, chicken broth—and headed for home. I chopped the onion and followed the instructions provided by the expert Publix chefs, and violà…a tasty lunch treat for Bob and me.
That…
Deadlines...love ‘em or hate ‘em, we all live by them. From my earliest days of writing a “Teen Talk” column in my hometown newspaper when I was fourteen years old, putting words on paper always had a due date. I didn’t grow up writing long, tortured Dear Diary entries, which I lamented over for hours…
I drove into our condo complex this morning, and someone had lined the entryway with small flags. As the early a.m. breeze caught the rectangles of red, white and blue fabric, they flapped and twisted and came to life. No one was behind me, so I slowed to a stop and watched the colorful display…
What Jeannette Walls, Rick Bragg, Tobias Wolff and J.T. Glisson have in common is that they all have written best-selling memoirs that beautifully tell the stories of their lives. To this list, I could add at least a hundred or more titles of memoirs, which are engaging, well written, and so valuable to the aspiring…
My writing mentors encourage me to attend every writing class and workshop possible, to surround myself with writers who also wish to improve their craft. I take this advice to heart and put it into practice every chance I get, and I have never been disappointed. I walk out of all writing events with something…