In a recent episode of Fresh Air Weekend, there was an interview with author Thomas Mallon, renowned essayist and historical fiction novelist. It was a most fascinating interview, focused on highlights of his career, an article in The New Yorker Magazine, and the recent release of his novel Up With The Sun .    A story about  Dick Kallman, who was an up-and-coming actor in the fifties and sixties, a closeted gay man for much of his life. Kallman had faded into obscurity until his murder in 1980. Here's what Booklist said about Up With the Sun,    "Another superb novelization of real life . . . Fluidly written with well-realized characters, the novel is great gossipy fun to read. Film and theater buffs will be delighted." In response to the question of whether the characters he creates have to be real people who interacted with historical figures; or whether what he puts into the mouths of historical figures is credible, he said that the reader should alwa...

When I first got interested in writing a memoir, I started reading a lot of them, and in doing so I discovered that there’s a lot of similarities between a memoir and a novel of real life. In both, the writer is relating incidents and experiences that shaped a life, and each has to be written in a way that totally immerses the reader in the story. I came to that realization when I read The GlassCastle by Jeannette Walls, followed by Half Broke Horses , which is a book about her grandmother’s life. One is a memoir, the other is a novel of real life. It actually has the subtitle of A True-Life Novel. They both are compelling stories, and I loved reading them some years ago when I was just starting to write Evelyn Evolving , the story of my mother’s life. When I finished Half Broke Horses, I realized that I could follow the author’s example and write the story of my mother's life as a true life novel and then later write my memoir. As I mentioned here last month, writing my mo...

November is always a month that stirs a lot of reflection on my part. Thanksgiving is such an important holiday in my family, and always has been since I was a kid when we'd drive from Michigan to West Virginia to celebrate with my father's extended family.  In all those years that my siblings and I rolled down snowy hillsides to become human snow-people, and went inside to vie for one of the drumsticks, I never thought of what my mother was doing that day while she was alone.  My parents divorced when I was five, so she never came on those yearly visits to my father's homeplace. So why am I sharing this here? This year I've been writing a memoir as a follow up to my novel, Evelyn Evolving , which is the story of my mother's life. That book ended when I was about five years old, and readers have asked, "what happened next?" so I thought my story would answer that question. What I didn't realize is how hard it is to write a memoir. There are so many ch...

Before looking ahead to my hopes for 2020 when it comes to my writing, I want to share a couple of highlights from last year. While  I can't say that 2019 was a great writing year, there have been a couple of notable highlights. First was the publication of the fictionalized version of my mother's life, Evelyn Evolving: A Story of Real Life , which was published in May by Next Chapter Publishing. When the book was first released, it was a number one bestseller at Amazon in several categories, including women's biography and young adult biography. Since then, it has flirted with a number one spot off and on, and has often been in the top ten. Seeing that little tan best-seller tag on the book's Amazon page always made me smile. We dream often of having a best-selling book. And while this wasn't as prestigious as having a New York Times best-selling book, it certainly did this writer's heart good. Not just from a professional standpoint, but also knowing th...

This post was originally written and posted in September 2019, but in so many ways it is still applicable. This has been such a challenging ten months for so many of us since the first wave of the Corona virus brought us COVID 19, and now we're bracing for the second wave. How do we stay positive and upbeat through all the ways it impacts our lives? It was easier, I think, to deal with the challenges and limitations back in the spring when we thought they were short term.  We were positive. We were strong. We girded our loins and covered our faces and said we would get through this. We had no idea the pandemic would drag on this long and certainly didn't envision celebrating winter holidays without the usual family gatherings. For many of us, Thanksgiving was a bust, and the Winter Solstice Holidays, Christmas for me, aren't shaping up much better.   So, what do we do? Like I said back in September 2019, we can laugh or we can cry. I'll do my best to follow the advice I...

As we are well into spring in most parts of the United States and Canada, our thoughts turn to gardens and lawns and flowers that bloom in May. I remember early May was the time for me to plant pansies for my mother as a Mother's Day present. Photo by Maryann Miller She loved those little "people" flowers with the smile she always saw in them. The smile that would elicit one from her, even during the most difficult times of our lives. And there were plenty of difficult times. It was an annual event - this gifting of pansies - and the flower soon became a binding force between us and my sister. Today, as we look ahead to Mother's Day - our 5th without her - my sister and I will think of pansies and cardinals - the two things from nature that Mother most loved - and that will bring us comfort. For many years, I wanted to write a book about my mother, who came out of a horrible childhood and challenging adulthood to become one of the strongest women I've eve...

August is Art Appreciation Month. I didn't know that until I received a newsletter from ColorIt, a company that produces coloring books for adults and all kinds of coloring pencils and pens. Since I could not find a listing for Art Appreciation Month in the list of official list of month-long observations in the U.S., perhaps ColorIt made the designation themselves. Regardless of who made the designation, taking a month to appreciate art is not a bad thing, especially for those of us who paint beautiful pictures with words. But I'd like you to take a moment to consider a different kind of picture making. In 2016, the adult coloring book craze exploded, and sales of coloring books soared at Amazon and other retail outlets. Craft stores, such as Micheals and Hobby Lobby, had full aisles of books and coloring pens and pencils of all kinds. While the fad seems to have waned some this year, there are still plenty of adults coloring to relieve stress or just for fun. I do it for...