Learning to Let Go

Trips to Daddy’s in Highlands have a pattern. The way up is the hated trip on I-75 through Georgia–the Interstate that seems like it’s been under construction since I was a kid. The way back involves an overnight stop in Clemson at my aunt and uncle’s house on Lake Keowee (Aunt Lou’s B&B, we call it), then a loop up and over Greenville, down through Clinton so...
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RWA National: The Joy of Writing, With or Without a Contract

After the last year or two I’ve had, my writer self needed some TLC. Authors Dani Collins and Cathryn Parry presented several strategies to get yourself unmoored and productive. They provided a series of tools to tackle difficult writing situations. COPING STRATEGIES: If you’re struggling with self-doubt, ask yourself “Why do I write?” and “What is success to...
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Battle of the Bulge

My grandmother was a formidable Southern woman. She was the kind of woman who would rise well before dawn (she was a farmer’s daughter, after all) and get to work, put in a full day of driving, entertaining, cooking, baking, running the family business, and what have you, then repair to her room to freshen and change before my grandfather strolled in. After he retired from his...
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My Labyrinth Moment

One of my many faults is that I’m an out of sight, out of mind kind of girl, which explains why the closet in my teenaged bedroom is still packed full of junk. This hasn’t been an issue until lately. Miss Carolyn, however, has decided to downsize, trading the 4/2-and-a-half with pool for a neat condo not too far away. The house is now disarrayed–boxes and piles and bags...
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Fashion Failure

Sometimes I wonder when the nice people from the hospital are going to call and tell me that there’s been a terrible error and that they gave me the wrong baby. I mean, Frack is a straight-up fashionista. She’s had an innate sense of style since birth and has always had strong opinions about colors and styles, not to mention the ability to throw things together that shouldn’t...
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