750 Words. A Daily Brain Dump

August 3, 2011

“You should write your 750 words today,” the e-mail says. It is the first item to come into my inbox each morning from the website 750words.com. I signed up to receive it, so I have no one to blame but myself for this insidious little note. Although I don’t like anyone telling me what to [...]

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The Writing Doldrums

September 4, 2010

Have y’all ever had days when you can’t seem to write? Perhaps you want to do so, but you can’t “bring yourself to the page.” Some days when I sit in front of my computer screen, looking at the blank page titled “Add New Post,” I’m excited about the prospect of writing. My fingers fly [...]

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I Want To Be A Coffee Bean

March 17, 2010

At the Texas Storytelling Festival this last weekend, many fine tales were told. One in particular was told by my friend Elida Bonet, a marvelous storyteller who grew up in Panama, at the Sacred Tales concert. She said the story had come to her in one of those forwarded “inspirational e-mails” she gets (the ones [...]

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Musing On The Question: For Whom Do You Write

January 26, 2010

“For whom do you write?” That’s the provocative question that Janie posed at Colloquium. I decided to ask that question of my Muse — that “inner child” of mine who is the inspiration for my creativity. Ask a silly question question of a silly person, and here is what you get. OK, Muse. For whom [...]

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Lover’s Embrace

January 3, 2010

Sometimes I hear my Grandfather’s voice whispering stories inside my head. Yesterday, my husband and I took a walk and found two trees that had grown together. As we marveled at those trees, hugging like a pair of old lovers, Papaw’s slow East Texas drawl came through loud and clear. Pardon the length of it, [...]

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Amazing Visions Blog Carnival

March 22, 2009

[This is a guest post by my friend Damien Riley at Riley Central, who has a delightful writing prompt for you. I've asked him to tell you a bit about it, in the hopes that it will inspire you to join his blog carnival.] ******* Walt Disney had amazing vision, as did many special people [...]

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The Play’s The Thing. Enter The Dentyne “Realationships” Playwrights Contest.

March 5, 2009

I know some of you out there sit at your desk slaving away writing stories and plays and such. Maybe you have a dusty manuscript stashed in a file drawer? Here is an opportunity you can’t afford to miss. I’d have told you about it much sooner, but I just got the e-mail today. Dentyne® [...]

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Giving Eudora Welty A Second Chance

February 26, 2009

When you were in High School, did you enjoy the reading that you did for your English classes? I find it strange that I consume reading matter like a starving man devours bread (not missing a single crumb) until you tell me I HAVE to read it. If you want me to analyze it, then [...]

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I Can Do This

February 16, 2009

I sat on the front porch step with my chin in my hands and an enormous scowl on my face, as I watched the other children gleefully riding their bicycles down the street. My heart was positively green with envy. Granddaddy carefully eased himself down on the step beside me, using his hands to position [...]

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Empty Words

January 14, 2009

In a storytelling workshop with 4th grade students this week, I had a child ask me a question that has given me pause. It made me start pondering my storytelling and my blogging. I told the kids that I didn’t start telling stories until I was in my thirties, although my life’s path had been [...]

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Present: Tense, Past: Imperfect

October 12, 2008

I was the quintessential “Earth Mother.” Did any of y’all go through a phase like that? I’ve been remembering those days long ago, as the television news warns me of dire economic times ahead. It was the early 70s, and I had already missed my chance to be a “hippie.” In my conservative small town, [...]

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She Was A Community Organizer

October 10, 2008

A group of curious citizenry crowded around the speaker’s platform on a warm spring day in the early 1900′s. Miners and their families, factory workers, farm laborers, university students, and others were waiting to hear the words of the grandmotherly looking woman on the stage. She was only five feet tall, and slightly plump, wearing [...]

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American Masterpieces Program

September 29, 2008

This is an excerpt from an unexpected letter I got in the mail today from the Texas Commission on the Arts: Dear Ms. Tucker, The Commission is pleased to announce that you have been designated as an NEA American Masterpieces touring artist for the fiscal year 2009. You are one of 25 outstanding Texas artists [...]

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Too Good To Be True, and The Power of Story

August 12, 2008

I read this story in a book this weekend: Many years ago, back when airlines had to offer promotions to get your money, United Airlines offered a deal called, “Fly Your Wife for Free.” Businessmen were encouraged to buy a ticket for a trip and they would receive a ticket to take their wives along [...]

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Cancelled Due To Lack Of Interest

July 4, 2008

Aw, heck. I had posted about a writing contest called Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall. I wanted you to tell me about the most hideous beauty experience of them all! Obviously I am the only person I know who has had one of those, because I’m the only person who has posted about an awful [...]

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Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall. A Writing Contest.

June 20, 2008

[UPDATE: SORRY, THIS CONTEST GOT CANCELLED!] Have y’all ever spent hours trying to make yourself presentable, only to have the whole process backfire on you? Have you ever used some “beauty regime” that made you feel like an ugly duckling? Maybe you were getting ready for a date with that person who made your heart [...]

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Mind Your Manners, And The Rest Is Soon To Follow

June 17, 2008

“I think once you stop hearin’ “sir” and “maam” the rest is soon to follow.”~Sheriff Bell (Tommie Lee Jones) in No Country For Old Men Though the Cohen Brothers packed their movie with violence, the most memorable part of No Country For Old Men, for me, was the line above. It’s been bouncing around in [...]

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The Angel of Marye’s Heights

June 13, 2008

I’ve been working on my story repertoire the last few days. In that process, I came upon a tale from the time of the Civil War. Times of conflict can bring out the very best in some people. Richard Rowland Kirkland was one of those people. I wanted to share with you his story (facts [...]

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Balance Is A Choice

May 11, 2008

Have y’all seen the little old lady in the buffet line? You know the one I mean. She drives you nuts, because she is so dadgum slow! While you stand there grumbling, she carefully fills her plate. She dawdles around while you fume. She takes a little bit of this, and a dab of that, [...]

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Words From The Wise—Mensa Definitions

May 5, 2008

I got an e-mail from a friend of mine. She sent me the results of the Washington Post’s Mensa Invitational which once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. “Mensa.” Isn’t that an organization for really smart people? [...]

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