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Book Review: Reform at Victory
HAVING SPENT THE BETTER part of two decades immersed in extreme religion, I always welcome the opportunity to familiarize myself with stories of other survivors of this particular set of abuses....
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Book Review: A Silence of Mockingbirds
WHEN I DISCOVERED THAT the setting for Karen Spears Zacharias' memoir, A Silence of Mockingbirds: The Memoir of a Murder was Corvallis, Oregon, I had to get my hands on a copy. Corvallis is where I...
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Garbage Sale -- A True Story
THIS AFTERNOON, MY HUSBAND Steve and I were driving to my niece's place. It was a nice drive, along back roads winding through tall firs and farmers' fields. And it was a nice opportunity for us to...
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Please, Correct Me If I'm Wrong
THE TRAGEDY IN COLORADO has everyone talking. People are running the gamut of emotions. One person on Facebook believes we should set the shooter in front of a firing squad and televise his execution....
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I Bet You Know the Answer to This
UNFORTUNATELY, WE have to say goodbye to July 2012 now. I've never been terribly fond of goodbyes and this one has its own brand of sadness. It's like driving down a beautiful country road. You've been...
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Book Review: Second Wind
I'VE NEVER STOOD FACE to face with Cami Ostman but we "met" several months ago when I followed up on a lead for a potential writing project. Cami was issuing a call for submissions on women who've...
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Why I Don't Go To Church
FIRST, AN APPETIZER: a follow-up on an earlier post: Back on March 16th, I wrote about the Bulwer-Lytton 2012 Worst Opening Sentence competition. If you recall, I was contemplating the idea of...
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Softening the Rough Edges
THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU who replied to my last post. I appreciate the honesty you displayed in sharing your struggles (or not) with organized religion. To those of you who do attend church, that post...
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How To Lose Your Mind: A Parable
WHEN I WAS IN MY EARLY 30s, I had a real problem. Actually I had lots of problems. Tons of them. But you know what my biggest problem was? It was that I didn't get help. Or more accurately, I didn't...
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Book Review: Little Madhouse on the Prairie
AS THOSE OF YOU WHO frequent this blog are aware, I have a strong interest for the memoir genre. I like the drama of a real-life story. I get a thrill out of reading how everyday people overcome...
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Examining the F-Word
LAST WEEK, IN TWO different places, I read about the concept of forgiveness. (Yes, this is the F-word I'm referring to. All you weirdos out there can exit now. Ha, ha.) The first was while reading...
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Let's Have Some Fun: This OR That?
THE LAST SEVERAL POSTS I've written have been pretty heavy so I decided it was time to lighten up a bit. Below are 14 either/or choices. When you reply, (and I hope you will) just write the number...
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Feeling Nothing
YOU KNOW THE PRINCIPLE OF "Nature vs. Nurture" as it relates to human behavior? Nature is the idea that much of how we act is determined by our human nature, our DNA, our genetics. Nurture, on the...
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A Non-Partison Look At Last Night's Debate
I WATCHED LAST NIGHT'S presidential debate. My daughter's persuasive writing professor assigned it so I told her I'd watch with her since she was dreading it. My daughter is a lot like me. We both feel...
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Beyond Belief
I HAVE SOME EXCITING news to share. Several months ago, I wrote and submitted an essay for possible publication in an anthology. It was accepted! A few days ago, Seal Press released the book's cover....
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Nobody
EARLIER TODAY, I WAS PULLING into a parking space in front of the post office. I noticed a large round sticker affixed to the rear window of the car I was parking next to. I quickly scanned the message...
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The Gift of Fear
A FEW DAYS AGO THE PORTLAND NEWS was all over a missing young woman. Sheworked at a Starbucks and didn't report for work. Family members, of course, were frantic and the big guns were called in to...
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My Good News!
THE ONE AND ONLY silver lining to Sandy's ravages as far as I can see, is that they've given the talking heads of mainstream media (and the rest of us) a diversion from the presidential election. That...
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Here's An Idea
HELLO PEEPS. THANK YOU for your incredibly encouraging words in response to my good news. It really does make my heart sing. A great big hug to each of you. I was planning on having a back-cover blurb...
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As Promised...
HAVING FINALLY BOILED DOWN MY 80,000 word memoir into a manageable 250 word back-cover hook, I'm presenting it to you. I still don't have a definitive publication date but it should be early to mid...
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