If we are not frightened by brutality are not my words, instead, they are those of St. Augustine as he wrote about the serene, loving and Christlike words that poured from the mouth of the brutally tortured and dying martyr, St. Vincent during yet another of the successive regimes of persecution against Christians in the […]
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The times are so serious that even children “The times are so serious that even children should be made to understand that there are vital differences in people’s beliefs which lead to differences in behavior. This little story, I hope, will appeal to children so they will read it and as they grow older, they
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Last year, I selected one from a list of preset questions that comprise “author interviews”: “Do you view your writing as a spiritual practice?” Surprised at the question, I stared at the words for a while before realizing that yes, I did think of my writing as spiritual… even a spiritual practice. And wrote this
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I Claudia is Done! Kill the Monster! Finishing anything always involves paradox: That oxymoronic combination of relief and sadness. Okay, maybe, but “kill the monster”? A strange phrase to use when completing a long project- one that has taken a year to finish…like a book. Or is it? I’m a writer but the paradox is
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My idea of work was once restricted to the days when I worked for an institution. Only after I left that career did I broaden my concept of what it meant to me. Because I’d had a ‘career’ with an impressive title, everything else seemed like playing around, including the writing I did on vacations and weekends. Work meant getting a paycheck. Once I understood that the ‘dream’ of retirement was not one I embraced and that I needed to work, I began to broaden my definition of work to include activities that may not pay or may even cost me, if not my own money then surely, my effort.
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The Why and What of Advent Quietly competing with the banal and boring commercialism of Black Fridays and Cyber Mondays extended sales is another invitation. But it cannot be heard outside in the streets or while listening to CNN. Instead we must silent all the shouts of the marketplace to listen to another voice…more like
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Women of a certain age. Age is a funny thing. We can think that the phrase- and its associated number – means categories that limit, bound and define. Or we can mostly ignore it and live the life we choose, until we’re too ill to do so. In this twenty-first century, we read and hear
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I, Claudia Goes Public I, Claudia goes public? It’s now available for purchase? Yes, but just the first fifteen chapters and they are free! Huh? Here’s the background: Several months ago, the friends of the Smith Valley Library invited me to do an Author’s Forum to discuss the Lindsey McCall mystery series and my latest
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Could we have it wrong? Is it about avoiding unhappiness? ” So, are you happy now that I, Claudia is done?” I stared at my psychologist husband and grudgingly admitted. “I was happier while writing it because now I’m wondering what to do in the next book…” We had been discussing happiness. That everyone says
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Revisiting the Three Rules for Writing A Novel As I close in the completion of my latest book, I, Claudia, I need to review this wonderful quip of a writer far more well-known than I. “There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.” I love quotes like this
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