A Writer's Moment: Pathway to an 'undisciplined' success

A Writer's Moment: Pathway to 'undisciplined' success  “Sometimes the characters develop almost without your knowing it. You find them doing things you planned on, and then you have ...

Pathway to 'undisciplined' success

 

“Sometimes the characters develop almost without your knowing it. You find them doing things you hadn't planned on, and then you have to go back to page 42 and fix things. I'm not recommending it as a way to write. It's very sloppy, but it works for me.”  – Barbara Mertz

 

 Born in Illinois on this date in 1927, Mertz wrote under her own name as well as Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels.   Best known for her mystery and suspense novels – especially as Peters – Mertz (who held a Ph.D. in Egyptology) also wrote two scholarly books on ancient Egypt.  

 

 Her 20-book “Amelia Peabody” mystery series earned her wide acclaim and millions of readers with the final book – The Painted Queen – published in 2017 just after her death.  Her heroine is an Egyptologist and the stories all relate to the "Golden Age" of Egyptology, beginning with Crocodile on the Sandbank (set in 1884) and ending with Tomb of the Golden Bird –the discovery of Tutankhamen's (King Tut’s) tomb in 1922.

 

 Despite writing some 75 books, she called herself “undisciplined” as a writer, saying she really never developed a writing schedule or routine.  

 

“I work when I feel like it, and I work when I have to - mostly the latter, and it works for me,” she said.  “I can do a book in three months if I spend all day, seven days a week at it and, in fact, I work better that way.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Secret, dangerous . . . and delicious'

A Writer's Moment: 'Secret, dangerous . . . and delicious':   “Every afternoon, I would shut the door of my bedroom to write: Poetry was secret, dangerous, wicked and delicious.”  – Donald Hall   ...

'Secret, dangerous . . . and delicious'

 

“Every afternoon, I would shut the door of my bedroom to write: Poetry was secret, dangerous, wicked and delicious.” – Donald Hall

 

Born on Sept. 20, 1928 in Hamden, CT, Hall (who died in 2018) wrote more than 50 books ranging from essays and short fiction to plays, children’s books and 22 volumes of poetry. 

 

A “master” of simple, direct language to evoke surrealistic imagery, he was not only a popular writer but also a popular speaker, teacher, and reader of his works.  Sometimes criticized for “the simplicity” of his poems, he responded, “Everything important always begins from something trivial.”   For this weekend's poem, here is Hall’s,

      An Old Life

Snow fell in the night.
At five-fifteen I woke to a bluish
mounded softness where
the Honda was. Cat fed and coffee made,
I broomed snow off the car
and drove to the Kearsarge Mini-Mart
before Amy opened
to yank my Globe out of the bundle.
Back, I set my cup of coffee
beside Jane, still half-asleep,
murmuring stuporous
thanks in the aquamarine morning.
Then I sat in my blue chair
with blueberry bagels and strong
black coffee reading news,
the obits, the comics, and the sports.
Carrying my cup twenty feet,
I sat myself at the desk
for this day's lifelong
engagement with the one task and desire.

A Writer's Moment: 'A glimpse over the edge'

A Writer's Moment: 'A glimpse over the edge':   “From a good book, I want to be taken to the very edge. I want a glimpse into that outer darkness.” – Mark Haddon    Born in England o...

'A glimpse over the edge'

 

“From a good book, I want to be taken to the very edge. I want a glimpse into that outer darkness.” – Mark Haddon 

 

Born in England on Sept. 26, 1962 Haddon is best known for his book and play The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time – about a 15-year-old boy with Asperger’s syndrome and winner of the Whitbread Award, the Guardian Prize, and a Commonwealth Writers Prize.

                          

The author of 30 books and numerous short stories, he said it was his “late” discovery of the joy of reading that took him off a path headed toward a career in mathematics and onto one in the writing world.   His most recent book Dogs and Monsters was published in 2024.

 

Haddon utilizes a combination of humor, sensitivity and adventure in his writing.

 

He said his advice to new writers is simple: “Use your imagination, and you'll see that even the most narrow, humdrum lives are infinite in scope if you examine them with enough care.”

A Writer's Moment: Late Start, Major Finish

A Writer's Moment: Late Start, Major Finish:     “When I settled to writing seriously, which would be in my 30s, I did expect to be published eventually, but my aspirations weren't ...

Late Start, Major Finish

 

 “When I settled to writing seriously, which would be in my 30s, I did expect to be published eventually, but my aspirations weren't very high. A published book and a few appreciative readers was my idea of heaven.” – Jo Beverley

 

Born in England on this date in 1947, Beverley started late with her writing career, but once she got going became one of the most prolific writers of her time (she died in 2016).  Writing in historical, science fiction and romance genres, she produced 43 novels and 18 novellas filled with historical details and peopled by communities of interesting and interlinked characters.

 

After moving to Canada in the 1970s, she helped found the Ottawa (Canada) Romance Writers' Association (ORWA) and became the first “romance” writer to be a finalist in the L. Ron Hubbard “Writers of the Future” Contest.    Beverley won dozens of writing prizes including two Career Achievement Awards from Romantic Times, The Golden Leaf Award, and the Readers' Choice Award. And she was the sole Canadian romance author inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame.

 

 Beverley said she always thought it would be fun to bring someone from the past up to her time for a chat about writing. “And I'd pick Jane Austen," she said, "because I'd like to know what really made her tick. It's my opinion that she was inhibited by her family and a desire to do the right thing.  Away from all that, I believe she'd show new facets and enjoy the adventure.”

A Writer's Moment: 'No shortcuts to writing success'

A Writer's Moment: 'No shortcuts to writing success':   “As a writer, one of the things that I've always been interested in doing is actually invading your comfort space.  Because that's...

'No shortcuts to writing success'

 

“As a writer, one of the things that I've always been interested in doing is actually invading your comfort space.  Because that's what we're supposed to do. Get under your skin and make you react.” – Stephen King

 

Born in Maine on Sept. 21, 1947 King has written more than 200 short stories and 80 (and counting) novels that have sold upward of 400 million copies.   Many movies also have been made from his works; and he’s won a remarkable 6 dozen major writing awards. Among them are the Mystery Writers of America’s Grand Master Award, and the National Book Award Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

 

King and his wife Tabitha, also a noted writer, are among America’s leading philanthropical couples, annually contributing some $3 million to charitable causes.   And he has been unafraid to share his writing talents with others, including authoring the book On Writing, considered one of the best written on the craft. 

                

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There's no way around these two things that I'm aware of, no shortcut,” King said.   “If you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the time or the tools to write.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Sharing a loyalty to heritage'

A Writer's Moment: 'Sharing a loyalty to heritage': “If a man is not faithful to his own individuality, he cannot be loyal to anything.” – Claude McKay   Born in Jamaica on this date in 1889...

'Sharing a loyalty to heritage'

“If a man is not faithful to his own individuality, he cannot be loyal to anything.” – Claude McKay

 

Born in Jamaica on this date in 1889, McKay was the son of peasant farmers and infused with racial pride and a great sense of his African heritage. His 1912 book of poems Songs of Jamaica, about Jamaican peasant life, established his writing credentials, which not only included poetry but many novels and short stories.  Among them was 1928’s To Harlem about New York City’s black ghetto life and arguably considered the first commercially successful novel by a black writer.   For Saturday’s Poem, here is McKay’s, 

To A Poet

There is a lovely noise about your name,
Above the shoutings of the city clear,
More than a moment's merriment, whose claim
Will greater grow with every mellowed year.

The people will not bear you down the street,
Dancing to the strong rhythm of your words,
The modern kings will throttle you to greet
The piping voice of artificial birds.

But the rare lonely spirits, even mine,
Who love the immortal music of all days,
Will see the glory of your trailing line,
The bedded beauty of your haunting lays.

A Writer's Moment: Solving the 'relationship' riddles

A Writer's Moment: Solving the 'relationship' riddles:   “The funny thing is, though I write mysteries, it is the one genre in adult fiction I never read. I read Nancy Drew, of course, when I wa...

Solving the 'relationship' riddles

 

“The funny thing is, though I write mysteries, it is the one genre in adult fiction I never read. I read Nancy Drew, of course, when I was a kid, but I think the real appeal is as a writer because I'm drawn to puzzly, complicated plots.” – Elise Broach

  

Born in Georgia on Sept. 20, 1963 Broach now makes her home in Connecticut where she settled after earning two degrees from Yale and where she writes all sorts of books, but primarily mysteries for children and younger teens.  Among her many award-winning novels are Shakespeare's Secret, Desert Crossing, and Masterpiece.  

 

Broach has also authored 9 non-mystery Picture Books, including When Dinosaurs Came with Everything, a Notable Children's Book (as voted by the American Library Association), and My Pet Wants A Pet.   Her most recent books are the “Tween’s” book A Trip to the Country for Marvin and James, and the multiple award-winning children’s novel Duet, a fast-paced, suspenseful and history-rich mystery about an unlikely partnership between a boy and a bird. 

 

“Mysteries always have the potential for interesting connections between the elements,” she said.  “I'm also most interested in the relationship between the characters. I'm trying to create characters who not only are solving a mystery but are solving the riddle of their own personal relationships.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Don't just dream it; commit to it'

A Writer's Moment: 'Don't just dream it; commit to it':   “I love the unexplainable. It would be so boring to me if everything could be explained.”  –  Nancy Pickard   Born in Kansas City on t...

'Don't just dream it; commit to it'

 

“I love the unexplainable. It would be so boring to me if everything could be explained.” –  Nancy Pickard

 

Born in Kansas City on this date in 1945, Pickard is the only author to ever win all four major crime/mystery writing awards – the Macavity (5 times), the Agatha (4 times), and the Anthony and Shamus (once each).   She is a founding member and former president of Sisters In Crime, the international organization dedicated to the advancement of women mystery writers, and she also has served on the board of directors of the Mystery Writers of America. 

 

A journalist first, she worked for Kansas City area newspapers for a dozen years before gravitating to creative writing at age 35.   

                         

Among the best-known of her 18 novels are the multiple award winners I.O.U. and The Virgin of Small Plains and her most recent The Scent of Rain and Lightning.   From her lengthy list of terrific short stories “There Is No Crime on Easter Island” and “Afraid All the Time” have earned awards and accolades from around the globe. 

 

“If you have a dream of writing,” Pickard said, “that's wishful thinking.  If you have a commitment to writing, that's the way to make your dreams come true.”

A Writer's Moment: 'A template for writing success'

A Writer's Moment: 'A template for writing success':   “I needed to find my way to write. I need about six hours of uninterrupted time in order to produce about two hours of writing, and when I...

'A template for writing success'

 

“I needed to find my way to write. I need about six hours of uninterrupted time in order to produce about two hours of writing, and when I accepted that and found the way to do it, then I was able to write.” – Robert B. Parker

 

Born in Springfield, MA on this date in 1932, Parker intended to teach for a living.  And he was well into an English Lit career at Northeastern University (where he became a full professor) before switching to writing when his novels about a detective named “Spenser” hit the bestseller lists and then were made into a popular TV series.  Parker wrote 41 books about the private eye – his stories often credited with changing the style and face of the crime-writing genre.  

 

Beginning in 2005 Parker’s second best-known lawman, Jesse Stone, also made a book and TV splash.  The 9 books in his “Jesse Stone” series also sold hundreds of thousands of copies and became the focus of several made-for-TV shows starring Tom Selleck.

 

Parker - who died in 2010 - loved the Boston area (the setting for the "Spenser" books) and walked the streets, learned the vernacular of its various districts, and studied policing there.  It's a template for writing success, he said. Knowing your setting like the back of your hand.

“There can never be any substitute for your own palate nor any better education than tasting the wine yourself.”   

 

A Writer's Moment: 'A word appears . . . then another'

A Writer's Moment: 'A word appears . . . then another':   “My job as a human being as well as a writer is to feel as thoroughly as possible the experience that I am part of, and then press it a li...

'A word appears . . . then another'

 

“My job as a human being as well as a writer is to feel as thoroughly as possible the experience that I am part of, and then press it a little further.” – Jane Hirshfield

 

Born in New York City in 1953, poet, essayist, and translator Hirshfield was a member of the first class of women to graduate from Princeton University in 1973.  

 

Her 14 books of poetry – often referred to as “sensuous, insightful and clear” – have received numerous awards, led by Given Sugar, Given Salt, named as a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and After, shortlisted for the United Kingdom’s prestigious T.S. Eliot Prize.  Her most recent book is 2023’s The Asking:  New and Selected Poems.  

 

”When I write, I don't know what is going to emerge,” she said.  “I begin in a condition of complete unknowing, an utter nakedness of concept or goal. A word appears, another word appears, an image. It is a moving into mystery.”

A Writer's Moment: 'It's a scaffolding for the imagination'

A Writer's Moment: 'It's a scaffolding for the imagination':   “The thing that most attracts me to historical fiction is taking the factual record as far as it is known, using that as scaffolding, and ...

'It's a scaffolding for the imagination'

 

“The thing that most attracts me to historical fiction is taking the factual record as far as it is known, using that as scaffolding, and then letting imagination build the structure that fills in those things we can never find out for sure.” – Geraldine Brooks

 

Born in Australia on Sept. 14, 1955 Brooks started her writing career as a journalist, first trying her hand in creative writing in 2001 with the novel Year of Wonders.  Set in 1666, the multiple-award winning bestseller is the story of a young woman’s battle to save fellow villagers when the bubonic plague suddenly strikes.   Immediately dispelling any “one-hit wonder” talk, she followed it up with March, winner of a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

  

March is inspired by her fondness for Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, which her mother had given her as a child and leading Brooks to create a fictional chronicle of wartime service for the "absent father" of the March girls.

 

In the process, she also developed a newfound respect for religion.  “You can't write about the past and ignore religion,” she said.   “It was such a fundamental, mind-shaping, driving force for pre-modern societies. I'm very interested in what religion does to us - its capacity to create love and empathy or hatred and violence.”

 

Her most recent books are Horse, out in 2022, and the just-released nonfiction work Memorial Days: A Memoir.

 
She encourages all who are interested in history not to fear writing historical fiction. “There's just so many great stories in the past that you can know a little bit about, but you can't know it all,” she said.  “And that's where your imagination can go to work.”

A Writer's Moment: 'It's where language starts'

A Writer's Moment: 'It's where language starts':   “Poetry begins where language starts: in the shadows and accidents of one person's life.”  – Eavan Boland     Born in Dublin, Irel...

'It's where language starts'

 

“Poetry begins where language starts: in the shadows and accidents of one person's life.” – Eavan Boland 

 

Born in Dublin, Ireland in September of 1944, Boland was a multiple award-winning poet who had the rare distinction of being inducted into both the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and the Royal Irish Academy.  Her best-known collections are The Lost Land; A Woman Without A Country; and The Historians, released just at the time of her death in April of 2020 (later that year it won the prestigious Costa Book Award).   For Saturday’s Poem, here is Boland’s,

                                                 

                                              This Moment

                                              A neighbourhood.

                                              At dusk.

 

                                              Things are getting ready

                                              to happen

                                              out of sight.

 

                                              Stars and moths.

                                              And rinds slanting around fruit.

 

                                              But not yet.

 

                                              One tree is black.

                                              One window is yellow as butter.

 

                                              A woman leans down to catch a child

                                              who has run into her arms

                                              this moment. 

 

                                              Stars rise.

                                              Moths flutter.

                                              Apples sweeten in the dark.

A Writer's Moment: Writing 'the hard, unromantic truth'

A Writer's Moment: Writing 'the hard, unromantic truth':   "The realist . . . is really an optimist, a dreamer. He sees life in terms of what it might be, as well as in terms of what it is; bu...

Writing 'the hard, unromantic truth'

 

"The realist . . . is really an optimist, a dreamer. He sees life in terms of what it might be, as well as in terms of what it is; but he writes of what is and, at his best, suggests what is to be, by contrast." – Hamlin Garland

 

Born on a Wisconsin farm on Sept. 14, 1860, Garland was named Hannibal Hamlin after Abraham Lincoln’s vice presidential running mate (his parents were devotees of the new Republican party), but never much liked the name Hannibal and went by Hamlin most of his life.    

 

Novelist, poet, essayist and short story writer, Garland is best known for his tales about hard-working Midwestern farmers – a reflection of his “growing up days” in Wisconsin, Iowa and the Dakota Territory.  His first success was a book of short stories Main-Travelled Roads, inspired by his days on the farm. He then serialized a biography of Ulysses S. Grant in McClure's Magazine, publishing it as a book in 1898.  That same year he traveled to the Yukon to witness the Klondike Gold Rush, inspiring his first bestseller The Trail of the Gold Seekers. 

 

A prolific writer in many genres, it was his work as a memoirist that brought him the most acclaim, beginning with his autobiography A Son of the Middle Border.   He followed that with his Pulitzer Prize-winning sequel A Daughter of the Middle Border, then a number of memoirs about farm life, the people, and the harsh land they strove to tame – cementing both his place in writing credentials and a chronicle of the time and place.

 

“They are,” he said of his tales, “stories of the hard, unromantic truth of pioneer life on the plains.”

A Writer's Moment: 'The most lovely thing of all'

A Writer's Moment: 'The most lovely thing of all':   “I used to feel defensive when people would say, 'Yes, but your books have happy endings', as if that made them worthless, or unre...

'The most lovely thing of all'

 

“I used to feel defensive when people would say, 'Yes, but your books have happy endings', as if that made them worthless, or unrealistic. Some people do get happy endings, even if it's only for a while. I would rather never be published again than write a downbeat ending.” – Marian Keyes

  

Born in Limerick, Ireland on Sept. 10, 1963 Keyes is winner of The Irish Book Awards for several of her works, both novels and non-fiction.  And, she is an award-winning BBC radio personality on Now You're Asking, co-hosted with Tara Flynn.   

Her novels have sold over 35 million copies and been translated into 33 languages.  Among the best known are Watermelon, Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married and This Charming Man, while her most recent are Again, Rachel and 2024’s My Favourite Mistake.

 

Keyes started as a short story writer and while suffering from alcoholism.  After successful treatment for the disease, she wrote her award-winning novel Watermelon.   She also has written frankly about clinical depression, which left her unable to sleep, read, write, or talk.  After a long hiatus due to severe depression, she wrote another bestseller Saved by Cake based on the experience. 

                                                      

“Writing about feeling disconnected has enabled me to connect,” she said, “and that has been the most lovely thing of all.”

A Writer's Moment: Mining 'the creative flow'

A Writer's Moment: Mining 'the creative flow':   “People have talents that are different. Where does the creative flow come from - inside us or from a higher power? I don't ask any qu...

Mining 'the creative flow'

 

“People have talents that are different. Where does the creative flow come from - inside us or from a higher power? I don't ask any questions. I just write it down.” – Phyllis A. Whitney
 

Born in Japan on Sept. 9, 1903 Whitney was one of America’s best-known writers of (as she coined it) “Romantic Novels of Suspense.”  And she wrote them for 80 years – almost right up until her death at age 104.  “I always want to live long enough to finish the book I'm working on and see it published,” she said, explaining her longevity.  “But then I start another book before the previous one is in the stores, so I always have a reason to go on.”

 

She wrote nearly 100 novels for both the juvenile and adult markets – many in exotic locales – winning legions of fans and writing accolades in the process.  Her book The Mystery of the Haunted Pool won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Juvenile novel, and she duplicated the honor for The Mystery of the Hidden Hand.   In 1988, the MWA gave her a Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement.   She kept up those achievements another dozen years before her health finally slowed her down.      

 

Whitney credited her longevity to “an optimistic outlook, both personally and as a writer.  I offer optimism.  All my books have happy endings. I don't see any point in letting my readers down at the end. I'm an optimist - and I want people to feel that in my books.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Atmosphere, Imagery and Adventure'

A Writer's Moment: 'Atmosphere, Imagery and Adventure':   “I think almost always that what gets me going with a story is the atmosphere, the visual imagery, and then I people it with characters, n...

'Atmosphere, Imagery and Adventure'

 

“I think almost always that what gets me going with a story is the atmosphere, the visual imagery, and then I people it with characters, not the other way around.” – Ann Beattie

 

Born in Washington, DC on this date in 1947, Beattie is a short story writer and novelist noted for her dry, matter-of-fact irony – particularly in writing about the members of the Baby Boom generation.  Distortions, her first collection of short stories (she’s now authored 12 collections), won her several awards for excellence, as did her novel Chilly Scenes of Winter, also was made into a well-received film called “Head Over Heels.”

 

Beattie’s most recent book of short stories, Onlookers: Stories was published in 2023, the same year her nonfiction book More to Say: Essays and Appreciations was released.  The author of numerous essays, her papers are housed at the Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia, where she served as Chair of the English and Creative Writing Department for many years. 

 

“I don't write about things that I have the answers to or things that are very close to home,” she said.  “It just wouldn't be an adventure. It wouldn't have any vitality.”

A Writer's Moment: 'In the silent garden'

A Writer's Moment: 'In the silent garden':   “Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you’ve got to say and say it hot.”  – D. H. Lawrence   ...

'In the silent garden'

 

“Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you’ve got to say and say it hot.” – D. H. Lawrence

 

David Herbert Lawrence, novelist, short-story writer, poet, and essayist, was born in England in September 1885. Though better known as a novelist, Lawrence's first-published works (in 1909) were poems, and his poetry, especially his evocations of the natural world, have since had a significant influence on many poets on both sides of the Atlantic.   For Saturday’s Poem, here is Lawrence’s,

                               Trees in the Garden      

                               Ah in the thunder air

                               the trees are! 

 

                               And the lime-tree, lovely and tall, every leaf

                               silent

                               hardly looses even a last breath of perfume. 

 

                               And the ghostly, creamy coloured little tree of

                              leaves

                              white, ivory white among the rambling greens

                               evanescent, variegated elder, she hesitates

                               on the green grass

                               as if, in another moment, she would disappear

                               with all her grace of foam! 

 

                               And the larch that is only a column, it goes up

                               too tall to see:

                               and the balsam-pines that are blue with the grey-

                               blue blueness of     

                                           things from the sea,

                               and the young copper beech, its leaves red-rosy

                               at the ends

                               how still they are together, they stand so still

                               in the thunder air, all strangers to one another

                               as the green grass glows upwards, strangers in

                               the silent garden.

A Writer's Moment: 'A book that writes itself'

A Writer's Moment: 'A book that writes itself':   “Our life is a book that writes itself and whose principal themes sometimes escape us. We are like characters in a novel who do not always...

'A book that writes itself'

 

“Our life is a book that writes itself and whose principal themes sometimes escape us. We are like characters in a novel who do not always understand what the author wants of them.” – Julien Green

 

Green was born on Sept. 6, 1900 to American parents living in France.  After spending time in America in his late teens, he returned to France and in 1922 – after a false start as a painter – began a nearly 80-year career - mostly living in France - as a writer.

 

By 1927 he had established himself in the world of French literature and probably would have remained there for the rest of his long life (he died in 1998) except for the outbreak of World War II.  Returning to the U.S., he joined the United States Office of War Information, becoming the “French” voice for Voice of America, crucial in keeping up the French Resistance and ultimately leading to Germany’s defeat. 

 

While he wrote numerous essays on faith and religion, he is most noted for his 19-volume diary.  Spanning 80 years, the diary provided the world with a unique window on the artistic and literary scene in Paris.  The popularity of his diary was, he said, based on his free form and spontaneous writing style, folksy and highly readable.

 

“The secret is to write just anything, to dare to write just anything,” he said, “because when you write just anything, you begin to say what is important.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Write from your center . . . to the world'

A Writer's Moment: 'Write from your center . . . to the world':   “God would not give us the same talent if what were right for men were wrong for women.”  – Sarah Orne Jewett   Born in South Berwick,...

'Write from your center . . . to the world'

 

“God would not give us the same talent if what were right for men were wrong for women.” – Sarah Orne Jewett

 

Born in South Berwick, Maine on Sept. 3, 1849 Jewett was a novelist, short story writer and poet, best known for her local color works set along or near the southern seacoast of Maine.  She is recognized as an important practitioner of what became known as American Literary Regionalism.

 

Educated in Boston, where she met many of New England’s leading writers while still in her teens, Jewett was first published in Atlantic Monthly in 1868 and went on to become one of the most-read short story writers of the 1870s and ‘80s.  Fellow author William Dean Howells said Jewett possessed “an uncommon feeling for talk — I hear your people.”

 

Best known among her 20 books are The Country of the Pointed Firs; A Country Doctor; and a collection of her best short stories titled A White Heron.  Many of her poems are collected in the book Verses.  

 

“You must find your own quiet center of life, and write from that to the world,” she said about the importance of self-reflection and authenticity in writing and life.  “The thing that teases the mind over and over for years and at last gets itself put down rightly on paper is whether – little or great – it belongs to Literature.”

A Writer's Moment: 'It's life's greatest adventure'

A Writer's Moment: 'It's life's greatest adventure':   “Learning should be a joy and full of excitement. It is life's greatest adventure; it is an illustrated excursion into the minds of th...

'It's life's greatest adventure'

 

“Learning should be a joy and full of excitement. It is life's greatest adventure; it is an illustrated excursion into the minds of the noble and the learned.” – Taylor Caldwell

 

Born in England in September of 1900, Caldwell emigrated to the U.S. in 1907 and spent many of her formative years living in poverty after her father died.  It shaped her values and she said she always wanted to have money and never again live in fear of want.

 

A writer even before leaving England (where she won a Charles Dickens Prize for young writers) she became a prolific author of popular fiction, writing under her own name and the pen names Marcus Holland and Max Reiner, and by her married name of J. Miriam Reback. 

 

In her fiction, she often used real historical events or persons combined with her own vivid imagination, writing bestsellers like Dynasty of Death, Dear and Glorious Physician (about Saint Luke), The Earth is the Lord's (about Genghis Khan), and Captains and the Kings.   Over her long lifetime (she died at age 85), she had nearly 50 novels published and purportedly discarded more than 150 more.  To date, her books have sold more than 40 million copies worldwide.

 

“A born skeptic” she believed firmly in education and hard work.  “I wanted to acquire an education, work extremely hard and never deviate from my goal to make it.”