by: Carol McClain @CAROL_MCCLAIN   My friend Linda Sprague found a few old poems of mine published in Foothills Ink and sent them to me. I’m going to take a break from my usual musings and share some never before shared work. I dedicate this post to Linda Sauther, Ellen Mainville, Flossy Powell, and Zoe Steenberge. …[ read more ]

Proud As A Peacock I loved the Dixie Chicks . Their sound crossed the line between old-time country and the contemporary. The use of the fiddle, the guitar work, the entire package worked for these classically trained musicians. Perhaps success came too easy for them and handed them their key to failure. They should have understood their …[ read more ]

Bassoon (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Playing the bassoon and writing equals the same thing. Note: I used the verb ‘equals’, not the weaker verb ‘are’…totally different meaning. Technicalities aside, how you ask? Glad to answer. Lonely time. You spend hours alone, creating, honing, perfecting. And you know you are GOOD. (Until you hit rehearsal or receive …[ read more ]

All Things Literary (sorry NPR–If the paraphrase works–use it) Want to be a great writer? Follow these tips. Mark Twain is back by popular demand. Don’t say the old lady screamed. Bring her on and let her scream. Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn’t. Ideally a book would have no order to …[ read more ]

Books written out of fire give me a great deal of pleasure. You get the sense that the world for these writers could not have continued if the book hadn’t been written. When you come across a book like that it is a privilege. -Hisham Matar, author (b. 1970)My friend Shelley sent me this quote, …[ read more ]