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I’ve often talked about my mentor, Lezlie Laws of LifeArt Studio, and how she, way back in the early 1990s, helped me start writing again after fifteen years of not putting pen to paper. For that, I am deeply grateful. In the last three or four years, Lezlie has served as a different type of mentor for me. She is a creativity coach with a mission to guide “people to make the life and the art they born to create” and grow into the next best version of themselves—mind, body, and spirit.

Mother's Day is coming up, and I have the perfect gift idea for you. I bet you can guess what I'm going to suggest... You're right--a Five-Year Journal! I have been talking about my Five-Year Journals for so long now that I forget many of you may not know the story of how I came to create my own version. I went into my News archives to find an article I wrote back in 2012, and I thought I'd share it with you today. In it, I talk about how I designed and then filled my very own Five-Year Journals. Click here to read it.

I have had micro-memoir on the brain for a couple months now, and I can't wait to offer Micro-Memoir: The Art of Writing Short, a two-part workshop on Saturday, May 12th. The workshop's morning session is devoted to learning all about micro-memoir, or life stories told start to finish in fewer than 1,000 words. In the afternoon, we will practice writing short in response to a variety of prompts. Do you want to get a feel for successful micro-memoir? I have a book recommendation for you.

Fifty years ago last Wednesday, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. Do you remember where you were? Do you remember what you were doing? Who was with you? Does that moment live with you in any meaningful way? Do you have any memories associated with him and his work? Historical events like that can jog your memory and bring you back to a moment in time. Remembering an event, you start to remember what you were wearing, a meal you were eating, who you were with when you heard the news, and you are off and writing, using language full of detail and sensual description. That's why timelines can be a useful tool for writing.

Let’s celebrate books, Orlando! Saturday, April 21st, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., come to A Daylong Celebration of Books and attend panels, writing workshops, book signings, and more. This free event is open to all, and tickets are not required, though you can RSVP on Facebook to see updates and ask questions.

Last Saturday, I attended John Dufresne’s workshop on flash fiction at Rollins College. In addition to confirming, once again, that I stink at writing fiction, I learned some useful tips I can apply to drafting micro-memoir. Dufresne read the introduction to his new book, Flash! Writing the Very Short Story, which defines the craft: It’s short but not shallow; it’s a reduced form used to represent a larger, more complex story; it’s pithy and cogent, brief and pointed, and like the gist of a recollected conversation, it offers the essential truth, if not all the inessential facts.

They write them long because they can't write them short. —Raymond Chandler, author There are as many different ways to write life stories as there are people to write them. To write life stories, people usually think of writing a book, but we have many other options. Alternatives to full-length manuscripts include mini-memoir, micro-memoir, collections, photo memoirs, your life in lists, five-year journaling, poetry, six-word memoirs, and more.   Micro-memoir…

What does it mean to write well? Are there tried and true ways to improve your prose, no matter what type of writing you do? You bet! I’ll delve into the answers to those questions in my two-part workshop, Basics of Writing Well, Saturday, April 28, 2018, on the shores of beautiful Lake Fairview near College Park, Orlando (32804). Exact address provided at registration.

Do you want to raise the dead with me? Join the Pastfinders of South Lake Genealogical Society, where I will deliver my Raising the Dead presentation on Thursday, April 12th, in Clermont, Florida. Guests are welcome to attend this free talk. Meet at 4:30 p.m. at the Cooper Memorial Library in Clermont for a social half…