It’s OK to Lie in Memoir
If memoir is the genre of truth, how could it possibly be acceptable to lie? Wasn’t James Frey fried because he lied? And yet, I venture to say that it [...]
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Apr, 2013
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Apr, 2013
Touring the Frank Lloyd Wright Historic District of Oak Park
Urns in garden wall of Moore-Dugal Residence, built in 1895 by Frank Lloyd Wright Once in a while, it's fun to play tourist in your own town. While my kids are [...]
8
Apr, 2013
Reading: Primo Levi’s Survival in Auschwitz
"It was my good fortune to be deported to Auschwitz only in 1944..." Thus begins Primo Levi's preface to his stunning but short memoir of his time as a prisoner [...]
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Apr, 2013
The Many Lives of a Story
Today I bring you what I think is a most inspiring post: My longtime student Diane Hurles has shared here before how she managed to find her voice as a memoir [...]
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Mar, 2013
What is Memoir?
The often incorrect use of the term memoir is a pet peeve of mine; after all, it is my genre. It's what I write primarily, and what I teach. So [...]
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Mar, 2013
A Walk through the Master of Nets Garden in Suzhou
Moon gate at the Master of the Nets Garden in Suzhou, China - If you remember my earlier photo essay about the Blue Waves Pavilion - moon gates like this [...]
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Mar, 2013
Leslie Maitland on Writing from a Different Point of View in Memoir
My author Q&A with Leslie Maitland appeared in the Washington Independent Review of Books last week. Her memoir Crossing the Borders of Time, about finding her mother's first love whom she [...]
12
Mar, 2013
On Belonging to a Group
How could you not feel elegant under this chandelier? Ballroom of the Woman's Athletic Club of Chicago, where the concert was held. Lately I've been thinking a lot about [...]
8
Mar, 2013
The Writing on the Wall
"Mom vandalized the wall!" - that was my son's first reaction upon seeing my word of the year written on our living room wall. "Hey, there's a word on the wall!" [...]
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Feb, 2013
My Grandmother’s Simple Chocolate Pudding Recipe
Isn't chocolate pudding the perfect little comfort food? Easy and quick to make, and good in any season? Yesterday I made some in preparation for tonight's Shabbat dinner. We [...]
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Feb, 2013
A Blog Thank You
Article in the French Jewish magazine Tenou'a featuring the same art work by Michael Thompson I featured last May. Coming on the heels of my damp review of hosting [...]
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Feb, 2013
Reflections on Two Years of Blogging
Shaker Village Bonnet - as featured on shuttersisters I've been blogging for two years now, and since I reflected on my first year of blogging a year ago, it's [...]
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Jan, 2013
The Paramedic Method of Editing
I'm still struggling with trimming an essay to meet word count. This essay's parking lot is full! So I decided to employ the Paramedic Method that I teach in [...]
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Jan, 2013
The Beauty of the Parking Lot Method of Editing
Luc-sur-Mer, Normandy, France, June 2009 Ok, so the parking lot in this picture is beautiful because it is a) on the Normandy Coast of France, and b) features a [...]
10
Jan, 2013
What’s Left of a Friendship
In my current quest to get stuff done around the house, I hung up this crystal again. For years it hung in the southern sun porch window, and the [...]
19
Dec, 2012
A Childhood Window Recreated
Recently, as I was rewriting a chapter from my memoir into the essay Giving Up Christmas that was published in Tablet Magazine, I leafed through a photo album of [...]
13
Dec, 2012
12/12/12 – Time Capsule of a Quiet Day
Inspired by Xanthe Berkeley's challenge on Shuttersisters to create a time capsule of 12/12/12, I decided to capture this ordinary day so that sometime in the future, maybe 20 years [...]
10
Dec, 2012
My Most Meaningful Read of 2012: Secrets and Spies – The Harbin Files
Of all the books I read this year, the one I have thought most about, talked most about and continue to think about is Mara Moustafine's Secrets and Spies [...]
30
Nov, 2012
The Garden of the Cang Lang Ting (Blue Waves Pavilion) in Suzhou, China
Walkway along the canal outside of the Garden, as seen from The Fish Watching Spot For a long time I have been meaning to share pictures from my visit [...]
26
Nov, 2012
Guest Blog by Julia San Fratello: Accepting Myself at Ragdale
I am beyond pleased to host one of my memoir students, Julia San Fratello, as a guest blogger today. Julia just enjoyed her very first writer's residency at Ragdale [...]
12
Nov, 2012
Guest Blog by Shirley Hershey Showalter: Writing About Faith
As announced last Monday, I am happy to welcome Shirley Hershey Showalter as a guest blogger today. We met in the online world last year; I was initially intrigued by [...]
1
Nov, 2012
Photo Essay: Point Reyes – Into the Fog
Cypress trees dripping with moisture on the way to the lighthouse at Point Reyes. Since today is November 1, and I have so far been celebrating fall with roaring colors, [...]
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Oct, 2012
Photo Essay: Savoring Fall in Indiana
I am immensely grateful to our friend who sowed sunflower seeds on an empty spot on our property in Indiana, because the dry sunflowers now make great models for [...]
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Oct, 2012
Photo Essay: Starved Rock in Fall
A hiking trip to Starved Rock State Park, a two hour drive from Chicago, is one of those traditions my daughter insists on. We just have to make it [...]
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Oct, 2012
Author Q&A: Wenguang Huang
I wonder what it means if I don't even notice anymore that my writing has gotten published? Have I reached a level of publication success where I can go, [...]
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Oct, 2012
Chicago Art Deco at the Powhatan
I took this snapshot while leaving the lobby of the Powhatan - I loved the red of the event shuttle bus as background to the two figures, the woman [...]
11
Oct, 2012
Photo Essay: At the Pumpkin Farm
I am absolutely in love with fall, particularly this year when the summer's heat kept me indoors so much. I've promised myself to be outside as much as possible [...]
8
Oct, 2012
On Owning a Story–My Great-Grandfather’s Sewing Machine
My great-grandfather's sewing machine, still in use on my dining room table When you write memoir, sooner or later you come upon the issue of, "Is this [...]
3
Oct, 2012
Photo Essay: Stone Fences in Kentucky
I'm thrilled that this photo of mine appeared on Shutter Sisters as part of their "weekending" series, so I figured I'd better share it with you all as well. [...]
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Sep, 2012
Photo Essay: Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, Kentucky
Bonnet on a peg board at Shaker Village - if only life could be this tidy. Last weekend I stole away from the Kentucky Women Writers Conference and spent [...]
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Sep, 2012
A Plant as a Companion
Our asparagus fern Prickly rules the sunporch. The other day I was reading E.B. White's One Man's Meat again. In the particular essay I happened upon, he was talking [...]
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Sep, 2012
Why Chapter Headings Are Useful
My Advanced Memoir Workshop was fortunate to host Wenguang Huang, author of The Little Red Guard, for an immensely informative Q&A session back in July. (Lucky for us, he lives [...]
12
Sep, 2012
Photo Essay: Alcatraz
Pulling out of the dock, Alcatraz comes into view. We had the perfect slightly gloomy day when we visited Alcatraz on our family vacation to California in August. Touring [...]
11
Sep, 2012
A 9/11 Tribute
I wrote about my 9/11 ritual last year, but I will write about it again this year, and probably in years to come as well, because that is what [...]
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Sep, 2012
Why It’s Important to Have Your Own Library
Some of my grandfather's books, now on my bookshelf When my grandparents were expelled from their hometown in Czechoslovakia after World War II, they lost their house [...]
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Aug, 2012
Cozy Mysteries Are A Reading Vacation for Me
We've been dealing with a few health issues lately (everything seems OK now), and so I've slacked off blogging. However, yesterday, as I retired to my bathtub with the [...]
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Aug, 2012
Photo Essay: At the County Fair
Boy in a Bubble - my youngest was the only one in the right weight class to go walking on water. Going to the Porter County Fair in Valparaiso, [...]
27
Jul, 2012
In Memory of Munich
As the Olympic Games open in London, I dedicate my blog post today to the 40th anniversary of the massacre of eleven Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists at the Olympic [...]
23
Jul, 2012
A Spanish Colonial House in Shanghai
After featuring a renovated Shanghai lane house, I want to give you another insight into living in contemporary Shanghai with a few shots of the home of Patricia Lambert, [...]
6
Jul, 2012
Tornado Trees
Our property out in the country of northwestern Indiana got hit by a tornado last weekend. Thankfully, none of the buildings were damaged. As we walked assessing the damage, [...]
28
Jun, 2012
Biked the Drive
Cruising onto Lake Shore Drive at 57th Street at 5:45 a.m. My kids and I biked Lake Shore Drive back in May. It's taken me this long to report [...]
21
Jun, 2012
Reading: In Love with an Old Book – E.B. White’s One Man’s Meat
Once in a while we read a classic in my Advanced Memoir Workshop, and this June the group chose E.B. White's One Man's Meat. The book proved hard to get [...]
20
Jun, 2012
My Summer Non-List
The first day of summer has me thinking about my summer list. Faithful readers of this blog know that I like to put together a list for each season to [...]
14
Jun, 2012
Photo Essay: Tiger Hill, Suzhou, China
These days I am craving some serenity (Our kids' school year is over and the summer chaos of camps, summer school and entertainment has begun.), so I thought I'd [...]
11
Jun, 2012
Literary Magazine Layout
The past few days I've become obsessed with creating a book in blurb, as I am handling the layout of the literary magazine my son's school is publishing. It's [...]
4
Jun, 2012
Guest Blog by Stephanie Springsteen: Writing in the Car or in Bed
Image by freepik As part of my current series on Moms Who Write, I am happy to welcome my longtime student Stephanie Springsteen. Her work has appeared [...]
31
May, 2012
Photo Essay: Starved Rock in Spring
Starved Rock State Park - Illinois Canyon in Spring This is the last day of May, and one could say spring is officially over, since in the U.S. we [...]
29
May, 2012
Photo Essay: Shanghai – The Bund
The Bund at night - the clock tower building is the former Customs House, farther along you see the green steepled roof of the Peace Hotel. Typical tourist pictures [...]
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May, 2012
Reading: The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal
Edmund de Waals' memoir The Hare with Amber Eyes was my favorite memoir of 2011. I am still trying to figure out why because it defies so many of the [...]
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May, 2012
Photo Essay: Bikes in Shanghai
Just as the laundry hung out to dry on eletrical cables, parking signs and telephone booths, the prevalence of bikes in the streets of Shanghai struck me as so [...]