A Writer's Moment: Opening those 'magic portals'

A Writer's Moment: Opening those 'magic portals':   “All of us create our own versions of an event, of our lives, even, not because we're liars, necessarily, but because we can only see ...

Opening those 'magic portals'

 

“All of us create our own versions of an event, of our lives, even, not because we're liars, necessarily, but because we can only see and understand the truth from our own viewpoint, and a shifting viewpoint at that.” – Deb Caletti

 

Born in California on June 16, 1963 Caletti is an award-winning writer, primarily of young adult fiction, although she has several adult novels to her credit as well.   Caletti studied journalism at the University of Washington, received some recognition for playwriting, but always wanted to try novels.  "When my son was two,” she said, “I got serious about writing. I didn’t want to be one of those people who talked about their dream but never did anything about it.” 

 

All of her works are set in the Pacific Northwest and her YA books are noted for tackling difficult issues related to relationship dynamics, family (including stepfamilies), change and resilience, and  connections between human and animal nature.

 

A National Book Award finalist (for Honey, Baby, Sweetheart), and a Michael L. Printz Honor Book medalist (for her most recent book A Heart in a Body in the World), she said she’s been a passionate reader and writer from an early age and speaks glowingly about libraries.  

 

“I understood right from the start that every set of library doors were the sort of magic portals that lead to other lands,” she said.  “My God, right within reach there were dinosaurs and planets and presidents and girl detectives!“

A Writer's Moment: An action that's 'worthy of reaching for'

A Writer's Moment: An action that's 'worthy of reaching for':   "I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection.  Excellence I can reach for; perfection is God's business." -  Mic...

An action that's 'worthy of reaching for'

 "I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection.  Excellence I can reach for; perfection is God's business." -  Michael J. Fox

Born in Edmonton, Alberta on June 9, 1961 Fox is staying exceptionally busy despite his ongoing battle with Parkinson's Disease, working on causes ranging from finding a cure for the illness to eradicating hunger and housing shortages.

Probably one of the most iconic faces in acting, especially for the two roles for which he always will be remembered - the young Republican Alex Keaton on Family Ties and teen adventurer extraordinaire Marty McFly in the Back to the Future movies - Fox also is a gifted writer.  Using his writing skills to do essays and bio pieces about the disease from which he suffers, he exudes optimism that with enough attention and support a cure can be found.

His book Lucky Man, about dealing with the disease, is a must read for those interested in how to overcome the deepest of odds.  His newest book (out in 2025) is Future Boy:  Back to the Future and My Journey Through the Space-Time Continuum.

Fox's acting career almost got sidelined from the start.  The director of Family Ties wanted him for the Alex role, but producer Brandon Tartikoff felt Keaton was "too short" (he's 5-foot-4) and not the kind of face you'd like to see on your kid's lunchbox."  But they tried him in the pilot and he was so well-received that he went on to be the key figure in the show, winning three Emmy Awards for his acting.

At the series' end, he presented Tartikoff with a lunchbox emblazoned with his face on the cover.

"I like to encourage people to realize that any action is a good action," Fox said, "IF it's proactive and there is a positive intent behind it."

A Writer's Moment: Who makes for good friends?

A Writer's Moment: Who makes for good friends?:   “Poetry and music are very good friends. Like mommies and daddies and strawberries and cream - they go together.”  –  Nikki Giovanni   ...

Who makes for good friends?

 

“Poetry and music are very good friends. Like mommies and daddies and strawberries and cream - they go together.” –  Nikki Giovanni

 

Born in Knoxville, Tenn., in June of 1943, Giovanni was a poet, writer, commentator, activist and educator.   One of the world’s best-known African American poets, her work covered topics ranging from race and social issues to children's literature.  Giovanni, who died in 2024, won numerous awards, including the Langston Hughes Medal and NAACP Image Award.   

 

Her poetry has ranged from the somber, such as the chant-poem she delivered at the memorial for the Virginia Tech shooting victims, to thoughtful, to whimsical.  For Saturday’s Poem here is Giovanni’s  

I wrote a good omelet

I wrote a good omelet...and ate
a hot poem... after loving you
Buttoned my car...and drove my
coat home...in the rain...
after loving you
I goed on red...and stopped on
green...floating somewhere in between...
being here and being there...
after loving you
I rolled my bed...turned down
my hair...slightly
confused but...I don't care...
Laid out my teeth...and gargled my
gown...then I stood
...and laid me down...
To sleep...
after loving you.

A Writer's Moment: Start with 'a great appetite for the curious'

A Writer's Moment: Start with 'a great appetite for the curious':   “One of the most adventurous things left us is to go to bed. For no one can lay a hand on our dreams.”  – E. V. Lucas   Born in Eltham...

Start with 'a great appetite for the curious'

 

“One of the most adventurous things left us is to go to bed. For no one can lay a hand on our dreams.” – E. V. Lucas

 

Born in Eltham, England on this date in 1868, Lucas was a humorist, essayist, playwright, biographer, publisher, poet, novelist, short story writer and editor.  Despite that massive resumé, he achieved  most acclaim as editor of the works (and biographer) of Charles Lamb, and for his  decades-long contributions to the British humor magazine Punch.

 

Considered one of the greatest humorists of the first half of the 20^th century, Lucas “. . . had a great appetite for the curious, the human, and the ridiculous,” said fellow wrier Frank Swinnerton.  “If he were offered a story, an incident or an absurdity, his mind instantly shaped it with wit and form.”  

 

His 150-plus titles include Life of Charles Lamb, considered the seminal work on the author; several novels, biographies and plays; 30 collections of light essays; and dozens of travel books and books about painters.   Of the last he said, “I know very little about pictures, but I like to write about them for the benefit of those who know less.”

 

“The art of life is to show your hand,” Lucas said.  “There is no diplomacy like candor. You may lose by it now and then, but it will be a loss well gained if you do.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Falling into the right hands'

A Writer's Moment: 'Falling into the right hands':   “A novel is balanced between a few true impressions and the multitude of false ones that make up most of what we call life. With a novelis...

'Falling into the right hands'

 

“A novel is balanced between a few true impressions and the multitude of false ones that make up most of what we call life. With a novelist, like a surgeon, you have to get a feeling that you've fallen into good hands - someone from whom you can accept the anesthetic with confidence.” – Saul Bellow

 

Born in Canada on June 10, 1915 Bellow became a naturalized U.S. citizen after attending the University of Chicago and Northwestern University where he studied writing and English and earned degrees in sociology and anthropology.  The fact that he was an anthropologist probably is not a surprise for his readers who find anthropological references sprinkled throughout his many award-winning books.  

  

He may be best known for his Adventures of Augie March, often labeled “The 20^th Century Don Quixote.”   Bellow won every major writing award, including the Nobel Prize and is the only writer to win the National Book Award for Fiction 3 times.  He also was honored with the Lifetime Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, the National Medal of Arts, and 2 Pulitzer Prizes.

  

"The backbone of 20th-century American literature has been provided by two novelists—William Faulkner and Saul Bellow,” noted novelist Philip Roth.  “Together they are the Melville, Hawthorne, and Twain of the 20th century." 

Well-liked for his wry sense of humor, he once noted “You know, you never have to change anything you got up in the middle of the night to write down.” 

A Writer's Moment: A champion for social justice and human rights

A Writer's Moment: A champion for social justice and human rights:   “I've always loved writing, and the impulse for me is storytelling. I don't sit down and think: 'What political message can I ...

A champion for social justice and human rights

 

“I've always loved writing, and the impulse for me is storytelling. I don't sit down and think: 'What political message can I sell?' I love the creativity of it.” – Randa Abdel-Fattah

 

Born in Sydney, Australia in June of 1979, Abdel-Fattah is of Palestinian-Egyptian heritage, bringing an interesting cultural mix to her writing.  She had her first short story published at age 11, wrote numerous short stories as a teenager, and completed the first draft of her debut novel Does My Head Look Big in This? at age 18.   The story about life choices, bias and abiding friendships, the book also spawned a play and both versions were winner of numerous awards.

 

In addition to her writing, Abdel-Fattah is an attorney and champion for social justice and human rights issues.  A frequent speaker and regular broadcast commentator on those topics, she has continued to produce short stories and essays and (to date) a dozen books.  Her most recent is 2025’s Discipline.

 

Abdel-Fattah's writing also touches on celebratory events from all cultures and religions. 

 

“Religious celebrations,” she said, “and the good will, high spirits and generosity that mark them, are wonderful occasions for understanding the potential of 'everyday multiculturalism,’ and how people from diverse faiths can connect and show they care, rather than go down parallel, sometimes hostile, roads.”

A Writer's Moment: 'The task of a writer'

A Writer's Moment: 'The task of a writer':   “The task of a writer consists of being able to make something out of an idea.”  – Thomas Mann   Born in Lubeck, Germany on June 6, 18...

'The task of a writer'

 

“The task of a writer consists of being able to make something out of an idea.” – Thomas Mann

 

Born in Lubeck, Germany on June 6, 1875 Mann was a journalist, novelist, short story writer, philanthropist and essayist who started writing in the mid-1890s while living in Munich.   Winner of the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature, he was one of the most outspoken critics of Adolph Hitler, ultimately having to flee to Czechoslovakia and then the United States where he became a naturalized American citizen and lived until shortly before his death in 1955.

 

His successful creative writing career, which began with his novel Buddonbrooks – about a merchant family and reflective of his own childhood roots – was marked primarily by his short stories, which were popular throughout his lifetime and continue to be studied in writing classes today. 

 

"In books we never find anything but ourselves,” Mann said.  “Strangely enough, that always gives us great pleasure, and (yet) we say the author is a genius."

A Writer's Moment: 'It's in the heart of me'

A Writer's Moment: 'It's in the heart of me':   "The three foundations of judgement: Bold Design, Constant Practice, and Frequent Mistakes." –   John Masefield   Born in Ledbur...

'It's in the heart of me'

 

"The three foundations of judgement: Bold Design, Constant Practice, and Frequent Mistakes." –  John Masefield

 

Born in Ledbury, England on June1, 1878 Masefield was longtime Poet Laureate of Great Britain and remains one of those poets who had the uncommon sense to take every ordinary thing and make it shine.   Masefield loved the sea and wrote of it often in both prose and poetry.  His “Sea Fever” with the famous line “I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and the sky” is probably one of the most quoted lines in poetry.   For Saturday’s Poem, here is another of Masefield’s terrific short poems,

The Wanderer

A wind’s in the heart of me, a fire's in my heels, 

I am tired of brick and stone and rumbling wagon-wheels; 

I hunger for the sea's edge, the limit of the land, 

Where the wild old Atlantic is shouting on the sand.

Oh I'll be going, leaving the noises of the street, 

To where a lifting foresail-foot is yanking at the sheet; 

To a windy, tossing anchorage where yawls and ketches ride, 

Oh I'll be going, going, until I meet the tide.

And first I'll hear the sea-wind, the mewing of the gulls, 

The clucking, sucking of the sea about the rusty hulls, 

The songs at the capstan at the hooker warping out, 

And then the heart of me'll know I'm there or thereabout.

Oh I am sick of brick and stone, the heart of me is sick, 

For windy green, unquiet sea, the realm of Moby Dick; 

And I'll be going, going, from the roaring of the wheels, 

For a wind's in the heart of me, a fire's in my heels.

A Writer's Moment: 'Seeing your life in a different way'

A Writer's Moment: 'Seeing your life in a different way':   I wasn't one of those kids who grew up wanting to write or who read a particular book and thought: 'I want to do that!' I alwa...

'Seeing your life in a different way'

 

I wasn't one of those kids who grew up wanting to write or who read a particular book and thought: 'I want to do that!' I always told stories and wrote them down, but I never thought writing was a career path, even though, clearly, someone was writing the books and newspapers and magazines.” – Gayle Forman 

 

Born in Los Angeles on this date in 1970 Forman has authored 14 books led by the YA novel If I Stay, which both topped the New York Times bestseller list and also was made into a popular film.   The story is about a 17-year-old girl named Mia who has been involved in a tragic car accident and lies in a coma fully aware of what is going on around her.  It earned Forman several "book of the year" awards..

 

Forman began her career writing for Seventeen, with most of her articles focusing on young people and social concerns.   For a number of years, in addition to her YA writing, she has been a successful freelance journalist for publications like Glamour, The Nation, and Elle.   Her most recent book is 2025’s After Life.

 

Now a resident of Brooklyn, NY, married and the mother of two girls, Forman said she found her niche in YA writing by zeroing in on themes that give you an in-depth and often wrenching look at her protagonists’ lives.

 

“I think we like movies and books that give us this emotionally moving experience,” she said. “Where you feel like a slightly different person, and you see the world a little different after you finish. It lets you see your own life in a different way, and it actually makes you feel really good.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Control of the final results'

A Writer's Moment: 'Control of the final results':   “ The one thing that makes writing a better pastime than reading is that you can make things turn out the way you want in the end!”  –  Ge...

'Control of the final results'

 

“The one thing that makes writing a better pastime than reading is that you can make things turn out the way you want in the end!” –  Geraldine McCaughrean

 

Born in London on June 6, 1951 McCaughrean has written more than 170 books and been translated into 45 languages.  But despite that success, she may be best known for writing the authorized sequel to Peter Pan.   She believes her books appeal to kids because they empower them.  “The chief thing is to make children feel good about themselves,” she said. “They want to step into the shoes of a hero who is bigger and stronger, to face tremendous dangers and come home safely for tea.”

 

She said her love of writing has been sparked by a desire to escape from an unsatisfactory world and “live” her motto:  Do not write about what you know, write about what you want to know. 

 

Among her dozens of writing prizes are Whitbread Awards for her children’s books A Little Lower Than the Angels, Gold Dust, and Not The End of the World, and Carnegie Medals for her teen book A Pack of Lies and the YA book Where the World Ends.

 

“I never dreamt I could be an author when I grew up,” she said.  “It just didn't occur to me, because I thought you had to be a) academic, so go to university, things like that, and I didn't think I was clever, or b) dead because I just assumed all the authors in the library were dead.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Words are our life'

A Writer's Moment: 'Words are our life':   “Words are our life. We are human because we use language. So I think we are less human when we use less language.” – Carol Shields   ...

'Words are our life'

 

“Words are our life. We are human because we use language. So I think we are less human when we use less language.” – Carol Shields

 

Born in Oak Park, IL on June 2, 1935 Shields grew up in America but spent much of her adult life in Canada.  She was a full-time writing professor, novelist, playwright and short story writer and won both the Pulitzer Prize and Canada’s equivalent, The Governor General’s Award, for her novel The Stone Diaries – the only writer to ever win both awards for the same book.   She died from cancer in 2003.

 

Shields’ short story collections, including Various Miracles and Dressing Up for the Carnival, also were much-honored and are part of the Collected Stories of Carol Shields published after her death.   Her nonfiction book on author Jane Austin also won several major awards.   And her plays, particularly "Departures and Arrivals" and "Thirteen Hands" have been performed countless times by amateur and professional theater companies around the globe.

 

Shields was an advocate of using life experiences in writing, but only selectively.  “There are chapters in every life which are seldom read,” she explained, “and certainly not aloud.”

A Writer's Moment: 'It's what nourishes the imagination'

A Writer's Moment: 'It's what nourishes the imagination':   “You expect far too much of a first sentence. Think of it as analogous to a good country breakfast: what we want is something simple, but ...

'It's what nourishes the imagination'

 

“You expect far too much of a first sentence. Think of it as analogous to a good country breakfast: what we want is something simple, but nourishing to the imagination.” –  Larry McMurtry

 

Born in Wichita Falls, TX on June 3, 1936 McMurtry was considered the consummate writer of “the perfect first sentence,” and readers rewarded him for it with multiple bestselling novels.  Viewers were equally appreciative, flocking to movie adaptations of many of his works. 

 

Among his dozens of bestsellers are such classics as The Last Picture Show, Terms of Endearment, and Lonesome Dove.  His movies earned a remarkable 26 Academy Award nominations with 10 wins, and the Lonesome Dove television series, earned 18 Emmy nominations with seven wins, plus a Pulitzer Prize for Literature.  And he co-wrote (with Diana Ossana) the Academy Award-winning screenplay for Brokeback Mountain.

 

A rancher’s son, McMurtry got his first taste of storytelling as a boy sitting on his parents’ porch listening to stories from them and their ranch hands.   After studying creative writing at North Texas State, he did graduate work at Rice and Stanford, where he also became a rare-book scout.  Ultimately, in addition to his writing, he became one of America’s most prominent antiquarian booksellers, amassing nearly half-a-million books.  The Larry McMurtry Literary Center, established in Archer City, TX after his death in 2021, maintains an estimated 300,000 volumes from his collection. 

 

“A bookman’s love of books,” McMurtry said, “is a love of books, not merely of the information in them.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Food for thought - and writing'

A Writer's Moment: 'Food for thought - and writing':   “Most memoir writers will tell you that the hardest part of writing a memoir isn't what to include, but what to leave out.”  – Kathlee...

'Food for thought - and writing'

 

“Most memoir writers will tell you that the hardest part of writing a memoir isn't what to include, but what to leave out.” – Kathleen Flinn

Born in Davison, Michigan on this date in 1967, Flinn is a memoirist, journalist and chef, best known for her New York Times bestseller The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry.   After earning a degree in journalism from Columbia College in Chicago, she wrote for newspapers and magazines in a number of states and nationally, including working as an obituary writer in Sarasota, Fla.  That experience was – in a way – her first chance to write “memoirs.”  

 

It was also at that time that she started thinking about attending culinary school at the world-famous Le Cordon Bleu and her book is the first to provide an in-depth look at attending and graduating from the famed school.  To date, it has been translated into nine languages, sold in more than 60 countries and is in production for a television series.

Flinn’s most recent book is Burnt Toast Makes You Sing Good, a multi-generational culinary memoir about growing up in Michigan.  A finalist for several book awards, it also has earned a citation from the  International Association of Culinary Professionals.  And her writing success all goes back to her time writing obits in Sarasota.

 

 “I didn’t realize it at the time," she said, "but writing obituaries was one of best jobs that I've ever had. After all, it's the only time that someone will ever laminate my work and put it in their Bible. Plus, let's be honest, writing obits in Sarasota is a very busy job. The saying was that old people lived in Miami, but their parents lived in Sarasota.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Specialize in the impossible'

A Writer's Moment: 'Specialize in the impossible':   “What we need is more people who specialize in the impossible.” – Theodore Roethke Born in Saginaw, Michigan on May 25, 1908 Roethke ha...

'Specialize in the impossible'

 

“What we need is more people who specialize in the impossible.” – Theodore Roethke

Born in Saginaw, Michigan on May 25, 1908 Roethke has been lauded as one of America’s greatest 20^th century poets.  Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his book The Waking and the National Book Award for Poetry – for Words for the Wind and for The Far Field – Roethke shared his talents both through his writing and as a longtime teacher of aspiring writers.  His legacy, in addition to inspiring and training generations of students, is a diverse and lyrical body of poetry.   For Saturday’s Poem, here is Roethke's,

                                                              The Waking

I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.

 

We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

 

Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.

 

Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

 

Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me, so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.

 

This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

 

I learn by going where I have to go.

A Writer's Moment: 'Your story, your hero'

A Writer's Moment: 'Your story, your hero':   “Everyone is necessarily the hero of his own life story.” – John Barth   Born in Maryland on May 27, 1930 Barth is best known for the ...

'Your story, your hero'

 

“Everyone is necessarily the hero of his own life story.” – John Barth

 

Born in Maryland on May 27, 1930 Barth is best known for the novel The Sot Weed Factor, and for his short story collection Lost in the Funhouse and novella collection Chimera, winner of the National Book Award for Fiction.

 

Barth authored 21 books plus numerous essays and short stories winning a number of major awards including the Lannan Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award and the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story. 

 

“The story of your life is not your life,” Barth said.  “It’s your story.” 

A Writer's Moment: 'First be a reader'

A Writer's Moment: 'First be a reader':   “I think the reason I'm a writer is because first, I was a reader. I loved to read. I read a lot of adventure stories and mystery book...

'First be a reader'

 

“I think the reason I'm a writer is because first, I was a reader. I loved to read. I read a lot of adventure stories and mystery books, and I have wonderful memories of my mom reading picture books aloud to me. I learned that words are powerful.” – Andrew Clements

  

Born in Camden, NJ on May 29, 1949 Clements (who died in 2019) wrote more than 80 books, led by his debut novel Frindle, which won multiple awards and has sold 6 million copies worldwide.  The book won 20 state book awards and the Christopher Award given to writing that “affirms the highest values of the human spirit.”  In 2015-16 it was named the Phoenix Award winner for the best book that did not win a major award when it was first published (in 1996).    

 

Clements, who died in 2019, said that in addition to loving to read he had great teachers who nurtured and encouraged his writing.  He started his own career as a teacher, but gravitated back to books, working for publishing houses to help develop quality children's books.  In 1985 he added the first of his own work to the market with a picture book called Bird Delbert. 

“Sometimes kids ask how I've been able to write so many books,” he said.   “The answer is simple: one word at a time. Which is another good lesson, I think. You don't have to do everything at once. You don't have to know how every story is going to end. You just have to take that next step, look for that next idea, write that next word.”

 

A Writer's Moment: 'A secret to writing success'

A Writer's Moment: 'A secret to writing success':   “I regard the writing of humor as a supreme artistic challenge.”  – Herman Wouk   Born in The Bronx, New York on this date in 1915, Wo...

'A secret to writing success'

 

“I regard the writing of humor as a supreme artistic challenge.” – Herman Wouk

 

Born in The Bronx, New York on this date in 1915, Wouk admired those who could write humor and thought about being a humor writer himself.  But after working as a gag writer for comedian Fred Allen, he decided to turn toward historical fiction, ultimately writing such massive bestsellers as The Caine Mutiny and the two-book series The Winds of War and The War and Remembrance (all three also made into popular movies).   Good career move.

Wouk actually was leaning toward business instead of writing when WWII intervened and he signed up for the Navy.  During “off hours” – sometimes between battles where he won numerous battle stars for heroism – he started writing to take his mind off the war.  His first effort, Aurora Dawn, a raucous satire about Manhattan's high-power elite, was released just after the war.  A huge hit, it established Wouk as a major new writer.

 

He followed that book with a string of other bestsellers, including The Caine Mutiny and Marjorie Morningstar often drawing on material from the extensive journals he kept about his personal experiences and the people he met or interacted with.  

 

From age 22-on, Wouk kept at least a journal a year until age 100 (he died at age 103 just 10 days shy of his 104th birthday).  He said he often referred to his journals to check dates and facts and found writing them to be a cathartic experience.  Wouk’s journals, 100 in all, are now housed at the Library of Congress – the first batch given at a 2008 ceremony honoring him with the LC's Lifetime Achievement Award for Fiction. 

 

In addition to his journals, of course, Wouk wrote hundreds of essays, short stories and more than two dozen bestselling novels, “Writing success is simple,” he said. “Write a page a day and it will add up.”

A Writer's Moment: 'The need to make sense of life'

A Writer's Moment: 'The need to make sense of life':   “The need to write comes from the need to make sense of one's life and discover one's usefulness.”  –  John Cheever   Born in ...

'The need to make sense of life'

 

“The need to write comes from the need to make sense of one's life and discover one's usefulness.” –  John Cheever

 

Born in New York City on this date in 1912, novelist and short story writer Cheever was one of the most important short fiction writers of the 20th century.  A high school dropout, he was “a natural writer” and published his first short story while still in his teens.  After being published in prominent magazines like The New Yorker. he joined a number of up-and-coming writers in the Depression-era government program called The Writer’s Project, then enlisted in the Army where he had his first book of short stories published while serving during World War II.

 

Among Cheever’s numerous writing prizes were the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award and a Pulitzer Prize, all for The Stories of John Cheever.

 

 Chronicler of both his times and the people he encountered, Cheever was lauded for his keen, often critical, view of the American middle class.  His stories are characterized by attention to detail, careful writing, and “tales of the extraordinary within the ordinary.”                   

 

Always cognizant of his reading public and what they liked, he once said, “I can't write without a reader. It's precisely like a kiss - you really can't do it alone.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Creating a lasting tale of dreams'

A Writer's Moment: 'Creating a lasting tale of dreams':   “Most people write a lot of autobiography, but when I came to write autobiography I discovered that nothing interesting had ever happened ...

'Creating a lasting tale of dreams'

 

“Most people write a lot of autobiography, but when I came to write autobiography I discovered that nothing interesting had ever happened to me. So I had to take the situation and invent stories to go with it.” –  W. P. Kinsella

 

Born in Edmonton, Alberta on this date in 1935, William Patrick Kinsella was a novelist and short story writer whose tales focused on baseball and Canada’s First Nations people.  For a wonderful read about life on the First Nations’ Reserve in Alberta, check out his short story collection Dance Me Outside, his very first book (released in 1977).  Narrated by a young Cree named Silas Ermineskin, it is a remarkable look at Reserve life, love, sorrow and triumph.

 

But while he writes poignantly and with great detail about the First Nations, it is for his 1982 baseball novel Shoeless Joe that he gained international acclaim and a lasting spot in American vernacular.

                                                                                                                         

Mildly controversial when it was released, Kinsella’s tale uses the reclusive (and still living at the time) author J.D. Salinger as one of its main characters, even though Kinsella had never met him. "I made sure to make him a nice character, though, so that he couldn’t sue me.” Kinsella said.   

 

Primarily set in small town, rural America the story has one of the great literary exchanges when one of Kinsella’s  “spirit” ballplayers – representing players from the early part of the 20^th century – emerges from a cornfield onto a baseball field constructed by a farmer named Ray who has heard a voice saying “build it and they will come.”  Seemingly bewildered, the player asks if this is Heaven?  “No,” Ray answers.  “This is Iowa.”

 

“Most writers are unhappy with film adaptations of their work, and rightly so,” Kinsella said shortly before his death in 2016.  “But Field of Dreams caught the spirit and essence of Shoeless Joe.”   

A Writer's Moment: 'Oh no!' it's that 'heartbreaking' result

A Writer's Moment: 'Oh no!' it's that 'heartbreaking' result:   “The awful thing, as a kid reading, was that you came to the end of the story, and that was it. I mean, it would be heartbreaking that the...

'Oh no!' it's that 'heartbreaking' result

 

“The awful thing, as a kid reading, was that you came to the end of the story, and that was it. I mean, it would be heartbreaking that there was no more of it.” – Robert Creeley

 

Born in Massachusetts in May of 1926, Creeley authored more than 60 books of poems and one novel.   Associated with the Black Mountain Poets, he was widely recognized as one of the most important and influential American poets of the 20th century. The winner of numerous awards, he was named for the prestigious Bollingen Prize and served as New York Poet Laureate.  For Saturday’s Poem, here are two of Creeley’s short poems, 

 

Love Comes Quietly         and                       Oh No !

 

Love comes quietly,                                 If you wander far enough                           
finally, drops                                              you will come to it
about me, on me,                                      and when you get there
in the old ways.                                         they will give you a place to sit    

What did I know                                       for yourself only, in a nice chair.
thinking myself                                         And all your friends will be there
able to go                                                     with smiles on their faces,

alone all the way.                                     they will likewise all have places.

 

A Writer's Moment: 'Great characters; great tale'

A Writer's Moment: 'Great characters; great tale':   “The characters are always the focal point of a book for me, whether I'm writing or reading. I may enjoy a book that has an intriguing...

'Great characters; great tale'

 

“The characters are always the focal point of a book for me, whether I'm writing or reading. I may enjoy a book that has an intriguing mystery or a good plot, but . . . it has to have great characters.” – Candace Camp

 

Born in Amarillo, Texas on this date in 1949, Camp is the maiden name of Candace Hopcus, who started her prolific writing career while simultaneously earning a law degree in the 1970s.  She said writing just seemed to come naturally and she wrote to relax.  The majority of her works are in the Romance genre where she’s published a remarkable 70-plus novels under the names Lisa Gregory, Kristin James, Sharon Stevens and, of course, Camp. 

 

Her first book Bonds of Love came out as Lisa Gregory and her most recent, The Marrying Season, as Camp, her author’s title of choice for most of her books.

 

The winner of a number of awards, including a Romantic Times’ Lifetime Achievement Award, Camp is the daughter of a writer (journalist Lula Mae Irons Camp) and mother to one (Young Adult novelist Anastasia Hopcus).  She lists her mother as a great role model.

 

“She had the best memory of anyone I know,”Camp said, “and she could really tell a tale.” 

A Writer's Moment: 'It's an obvious fact'

A Writer's Moment: 'It's an obvious fact':   “A man should keep his brain attic stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the rest he can put away in the lumber-roo...

'It's an obvious fact'

 

“A man should keep his brain attic stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his brain library, where he can get it if he wants it.” –Arthur Conan Doyle

 

Born in Scotland on this date in 1859, Doyle created one of the iconic figures in literary history - the detective Sherlock Holmes.   Noted for his to-the-point comments while solving mysteries, Holmes once pointed out that, “There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.” Doyle wrote his first Holmes book, A Study in Scarlet, in 1887, the first of just four novels he wrote about Holmes and his sidekick Dr. Watson, but further enhanced by 58 short stories featuring the famous duo.  

 

Widely considered milestones in the field of crime fiction, the Holmes' stories spawned dozens (if not more) uses of Holmes by other writers as well as many movies and television programs.  And they brought Deerstalker hats and Meerschaum pipes into vogue.  

The prolific Doyle - in addition to the Holmes' tales - wrote more than 200 stories and articles, four volumes of poetry, and a number of works for the stage, ranging from fantasy and science fiction to romance.  He also wrote a number of nonfiction books and seven historical novels, led by the bestselling Sir Nigel and The White Company.   For his contributions to writing, he was knighted in 1902 becoming “Sir” Arthur Conan Doyle, a title to which he is often referred. 

 

“Once you eliminate the impossible," he had his famous detective say, "whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”  

A Writer's Moment: 'indefatigable optimism' and writing power

A Writer's Moment: 'indefatigable optimism' and writing power:   “The optimism of a healthy mind is indefatigable.”  – Margery Allingham   Allingham was – as the old saying goes – “bo...

'indefatigable optimism' and writing power

 

“The optimism of a healthy mind is indefatigable.” – Margery Allingham   Allingham was – as the old saying goes – “born with ink in her blood” writing everything from plays to novels to screenplays, novellas and short stories, over 100 total works in all.   Born in London on this date in 1904, she wrote steadily from age 5 until her death in 1966.  As the daughter of two well-established newspaper columnists, she learned to write early and had her first plays performed on stage before the age of 10.   Although she wrote in almost every genre Allingham ultimately focused on crime and mystery, creating one of the most well-known crime detectives of the mid-20th Century, the sleuth Albert Campion.  Ironically, Campion was put into her novel The Crime at Black Dudley almost as an afterthought, but he was such an optimistic and interesting character that her publishers demanded more stories that would focus on him.     With that encouragement and her creative and imaginative mind, Allingham wrote 18 novels and some three dozen short stories and novellas with Campion (who many thought to be her alter-ego) at the heart of the action.  Among them was one of her most famous novels, The Tiger in the Smoke.   Allingham died from breast cancer at age 62, but ever the optimist she laid out ideas for several more novels “just in case they’re wrong and I’m not really dying,” and bugging everyone around her to keep the faith and help her keep writing.  As she noted just a few days before her death, “If one cannot command attention by one’s admirable qualities, one can at least be a nuisance.”

A Writer's Moment: 'How to judge a heart'

A Writer's Moment: 'How to judge a heart':   “Imagination has brought mankind through the dark ages to its present state of civilization.” – L. Frank Baum   Born in Chittenango, N...

'How to judge a heart'

 

“Imagination has brought mankind through the dark ages to its present state of civilization.” – L. Frank Baum

 

Born in Chittenango, NY on May 15, 1856 Baum’s writing imagination not only led to the creation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz but 60 more novels, 83 short stories, 200 poems and countless scripts for the stage and fledgling movie industry.  A strong advocate for women’s rights and women’s suffrage, Baum wrote many books about and for women and girls, including a popular 10-book series Aunt Jane’s Nieces, which depicted teenage girls and young women as leaders and heroines. 

 

A newspaper editor for several years, Baum was working at the Saturday Evening Pioneer, in Aberdeen, SD, when he started writing his Wonderful Wizard books.  He credited his experiences on the prairies of drought-stricken South Dakota (and not Kansas, as in his tales) for his setting at the beginning of Dorothy’s journey to Oz.  Baum died from a stroke in May of 1919, just months before the release of his final novel Glinda of Oz, about the powerful “good witch” in Oz – made even more “knowable” by today’s popular “Wicked” movies.

 

Among his contributions to the lexicon – in addition to the idea that a magical land called Oz could be found “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” – were the names Dorothy, Toto The Emerald City, Glinda and the phrase ‘I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore,” one of the most recognizable in the English language.  Baum also created a thoughtful line about empathy in the Wizard’s advice to the Tin Man, who was seeking a heart so that he could feel emotion.

 

“A heart,” he said, “is not judged by how much you love; but by how much you are loved by others.”

A Writer's Moment: 'These make humanity'

A Writer's Moment: 'These make humanity':   “Love, hope, fear, faith - these make humanity. These are its sign and note and character.” – Robert Browning   Love can be a major in...

'These make humanity'

 

“Love, hope, fear, faith - these make humanity. These are its sign and note and character.” – Robert Browning

 

Love can be a major influence on writers’ works, but for Browning (born in May of 1812) and Elizabeth Barrett (born in May of 1806), love fired both their personal relationship and their writing.  Their love story and marriage led to some of the most important poems by both including her famous love sonnets, highlighted by “Sonnet 43” known by its popular name “How do I love thee?"  

 

For Saturday’s Poem here is, 

 

              How Do I Love Thee?

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of Being and ideal Grace. I love thee to the level of every day's Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. I love thee freely, as men strive for Right; I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise. I love thee with a passion put to use In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death.

A Writer's Moment: 'Where to find your writing ideas'

A Writer's Moment: 'Where to find your writing ideas':   “The first time I can remember thinking that I would like to be a writer came in sixth grade, when our teacher Mrs. Crandall gave us an ex...

'Where to find your writing ideas'

 

“The first time I can remember thinking that I would like to be a writer came in sixth grade, when our teacher Mrs. Crandall gave us an extended period of time to write a long story. I loved doing it. I started working seriously at becoming a writer when I was 17.” –  Bruce Coville

 

Born in Syracuse, NY on May 16, 1950 Coville has authored more than 100 Children’s and Young Adult books.  But like every versatile writer, he tried his hand at a number of things – including toymaking, gravedigging, assembly line worker and then teaching elementary school – before turning to writing.

 

“I loved teaching,” he said.  And for a time he thought that was going to be his life’s work.   But writing was still on his mind, so he talked to his students about what they wanted to read, and it sounded a lot like what he also liked to read when he was a kid. “I read books that made me laugh but also made me shiver in terror. I wanted to make books that made other people feel the same way.”

After a few “false starts” he published his first children’s book The Foolish Giant, illustrated by his wife Catherine.  Translated into over a dozen languages, it is still popular among readers everywhere.  Many of his novels – led by multiple-award winners like My Teacher Glows in the Dark and I Was a 6th Grade Alien – have earned awards, and he has been honored with the Empire State Award for Excellence in Literature for Young People, given by the New York Library Association for his life’s work.

 

Keep looking everywhere for ideas is his writing advice.  “Ideas are all around you - everything gives you ideas,” he said.  “But the real source is the part of your brain that dreams.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Looking out to a rich, wonderful universe'

A Writer's Moment: 'Looking out to a rich, wonderful universe':   “Books were the window from which I looked out of a rather meager and decidedly narrow room onto a rich and wonderful universe. I loved th...

'Looking out to a rich, wonderful universe'

 

“Books were the window from which I looked out of a rather meager and decidedly narrow room onto a rich and wonderful universe. I loved the look and feel of books, even the smell... Libraries were treasure houses. I always entered them with a slight thrill of disbelief that all their endless riches were mine for the borrowing.” –  Zilpha Keatley Snyder

 

Born in California in May of 1927, Snyder primarily wrote books for children and young adults – at a rate of nearly one per year during the height of her writing prowess.  She won three Newbery Awards along the way for The Egypt Game, The Headless Cupid and The Witches of Worm.  Often a blend of realism and the supernatural, her books feature thoughtful, courageous girls or young women as the protagonists.

 

A graduate of Whittier College, Snyder was an elementary and middle school teacher before she began writing fiction in the 1960s, starting with short stories.  Her 1964 debut novel Season of Ponies made several bestseller lists, and she was soon writing full time, completing 46 books between 1964 and 2011.  She died in 2014.

  

Snyder said even though she was a teacher first, she always dreamed of writing and couldn’t imagine any other profession.  

 

“It grew from the dreams I always had as a child,” she said. “I think writing is an extension of a childhood habit - the habit of entertaining oneself by taking interesting bits of reality and building upon them.”