My eight-year-old recently asked why so many Disney movies feature deceased or wicked mothers. After a moment to reflect, I answered, “Because if the main characters had positive role models and caregivers, they would get into a lot less trouble and then there wouldn’t be a story.” In Disney’s first full-length animated feature film, Snow…
As you may have learned by now, this year’s anthology theme is “True Story.” Editors Amy and Deb invite open interpretation of the prompt and rightly so. Like most human constructs, truth exists on a spectrum, at least insofar as it pertains to literature. On one end of the scale lies biography and other journalistic…
Raise your hand if you’ve ever had an agent, editor, reviewer or reader praise aspects of your writing but ultimately condemn the whole as “lacking something” or “missing that special spark.” Or perhaps you’ve heard this version: “You’re a very talented writer, I just didn’t connect with the story.” Such feedback, infuriatingly vague as it…
Heavy. I’m hearing this word frequently amongst my friends, as in “Everything feels so heavy right now,” and I agree. Be it the cold and dark weather, the turmoil and tragedies happening across the country and globe, or simply holiday hangover, we’re all searching for some lightness. Until recently, I found mine at the gym….
Whether you prefer the Kelly Clarkson or Amy Grant version, I encourage you to take a moment as you read this, a pause for reflection and childlike dreaming. What are you wishing for in the coming year? I’ll go first. No more deadlines unmet, all the offers I can get. And time would somehow freeze,…