-
One of My Favorite Scenes
*** I’ve been decorating a little bit today for the holidays. I’m feeling terrible, still trying to deal with a chronic health issue, but I’m trying to remain positive and optimistic. Evert time I break out my Christmas decorations, I always think about a particular scene in my first novel, Beneath the Mimosa Tree. The scene unfolds at the holidays after ten years, when two former lovers and next door neighbors are reunited. After years of not speaking and feeling anger and guilt over a mistake that was made, the two come face-to-face in the driveway as Annabelle and her family return from getting a Christmas tree. Michael, home from…
-
FRIDAY FICTION – A Short Story from a Collection
*** They can’t all be happy endings. While my novels always tend to have a happy ending, my short stories do not. I don’t know why they go down this way. It seems to me like short stories—writing in the short form—allows you to write more pointedly, and that, in turn leads sometimes to unhappy little vignettes. This piece is loosely based on a dream I had. I will say nothing else about it, and I change things around, of course, because it’s fiction as opposed to non-fiction. This will end up being the first half or third of a short story which I hope to include in my collection…
-
Twice Bitten by La La Land, Love & Regret
Forget the singing, the dancing, the sets, the terrific, catchy music, and the fantasy of La La Land. What remains at the core of this award-winning film is character development and a love story that viewers are intentionally swept into from the opening scene of this boy-meets-girl movie romp that harkens back to old-time musical storytelling. If you haven’t seen the film yet, first of all, shame on you, and second of all, stop reading here, because I’m going to dissect the guts of the plot and meaning as opposed to an overall review. I honestly don’t want to spoil it for you, so if you haven’t watched it, close…
-
The Way the Rain Smells
Blessings fall from the sky. Heaven is weeping. The earth is cold and damp this morning, long tired from winter’s weather beating down upon it. The grass is mushy and slippery, and my boot slides across a patch of it and into mud. Fortunately, they are no longer my favorite boots, worn well from years of stomping the streets, the pavement. The rain smells sad, disappointed, and regretful. The sky is weeping uncontrollably, large droplets smashing against my window shield as I drive to work, causing me to put the wipers on high. I wonder who is crying, whose heart is breaking from up above, and when the tears will…
-
Nevertheless…
I was definitely born in the wrong era; this wicked-ass hopeless romantic loves music from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. It’s the reason why I’m such a fan of Mr. Buble. He brings back all the classic standards that I love and makes them his own…with charm and sex appeal. “Nevertheless” has always been one of my favorite songs, written back in 1931, and I love the poetic lyrics so much. This song can make you swoon. Perhaps this is one of the shortest post I’ve ever written because when it comes to music, all we need to do is let the song tell us a story. Maybe it’s your…
-
Regret, Tattoos, and Regret
Dear Readers, I know I blogged earlier, but I feel I must share this wonderful bit of wisdom with you from Kathryn Schulz on TED. A writer, journalist, speaker, author, Schulz talks about regret, one of the subjects of “Beneath the Mimosa Tree,” and something I, and many others, think about often. This clip is about 16 minutes long, but worth every single second. I just wanted to share it because it spoke to me. I hope it speaks to you as well about anything that you’ve done in the past that has left you full of regret. This puts a new spin on things. Also, to those students who…
