I’m baaaaaack! Hey, #IWSG peeps! I didn’t mean to fall off the monthly posting wagon, but… sometimes my life feels like a blender on frappe and I end up going in so many directions that the only way to deal with things is to pull back from everything except for what I absolutely have to do. So that’s what I did! My writing life is good, but… Though hectic, life’s been great for me, writing-wise! In January, I was contacted by a publisher and after a flurry of negotiations, research, and writing, my first book with Reedy Press will be…
Category: Blog on Writing & Life
Bright Star is a bluegrass musical that first opened on Broadway in 2016 as the result of a creative partnership between renowned comic, writer and banjo player, Steve Martin, and the talented songstress, Edie Brickell. Although set in the hills of North Carolina, it’s worth nothing that this creative duo has roots in the Lone Star State: Edie Brickell grew up in Dallas and Steve Martin hails from Waco. The storyline for Bright Star was inspired by the “Iron Mountain Baby” of 1902, but beyond the inciting incident, it’s pure fiction. I decided not to read anything about the show before seeing…
Cast iron grave covering – not mere decoration The photo below shows a child’s grave with a cast iron covering. This type of cast iron grave covering was patented in 1873 by Joseph R. Abrams, and there’s a lot more to it than mere decoration! It was intended to be better than simply mounding dirt at a gravesite. Invented by J.R. Abrams in 1873 As J.R. Abrams explains in his patent: “By this construction the sinking of the loose earth in the grave has no effect upon the superposed and hardened artificial mound formed by the cement.” Click here to read…
My book hit #1 on Amazon: ***Scroll down to see my fall author events! :)*** My newest travel book comes out soon! I’ve got a brand new travel book coming out September 15, 2018 via Reedy Press! It’s called 100 Things to Do in Dallas – Fort Worth Before You Die. The book is available for pre-order, but guess what? It’s already hitting bestseller lists on Amazon as you can see in the graphic above! Road trip inspiration: This new book is meant to inspire people to explore North Texas. It’s chock full of inspiration for day trips, road trips, date nights, family fun,…
Thought provoking play by Thomas Gibbons What does it really mean to be sentient? If we create a convincing facsimile of a person and use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to reproduce a personality, does the end result truly replace the original person? Or is it a modern-day chimera? In any case, exactly what sort of legal rights would, or should, such an entity have? How should existing biological family members treat this new being? Questions such as these (and many more) have kept my husband, Larry, and I chatting for days after seeing Black Flag Theatre Company’s production of “Uncanny Valley,”…
Understanding Cemetery Symbols by Tui Snider [The following is an adapted excerpt from my book, Understanding Cemetery Symbols. I hope you enjoy it! Also, full disclosure: that’s an Amazon affiliate link. If you buy my book after clicking it, I make a few pennies at no additional cost to you.] Lotus flower: an Ancient Egyptian symbol The lotus flower, also known as the water lily, is an important ancient Egyptian symbol.Since the lotus blooms during the day but closes at night, it symbolized the cycle of life and death. Egyptian columns are often topped with a lotus leaf, as you can…