Aint I A Writer?

Yes, I'm a Bob

2012-02-09T13:08:00.001-05:00

Five poems submitted this week, all to the "I'm A Bob" contest at a local playhouse for an upcoming production of The Vagina Monologues. Can't wait to see the show and hear the local contributions! Here's something just for fun;

Kidlit Project

2012-02-08T05:55:00.000-05:00

If you are into children's literature please consider the request made in this blog; http://taralazar.wordpress.com/2012/02/07/wikipedia-kidlit-project/

Someone made this for me I'm sure.

2012-02-02T16:14:00.002-05:00

Today's column

2012-02-02T10:07:00.000-05:00

Assiah Russell: 'High tide floats all boats' | SeacoastOnline.com

Gleanings

2012-01-30T11:53:00.004-05:00

Gleanings from Old Shaker Journals by Clara Endicott Sears Reading this on line as part of the great amount of research I'm doing for my current novel.Yesterday I completed a couple of hours on the subject of New England women's underwear in the nineteenth century. A lot more involved than it may sound not just because of changing fashion trends over those decades, but because of the

Apps for Writers

2012-01-21T14:35:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to maximize the use of my iPhone the way I know a writer should. But the truth is I can't even maximize the use of my iPhone the way anyone should. The truth is, contrary to what my daily use of a computer might indicate, I am practically a Luddite. I have no technical skills. My daughter remarked in anger when I purchased myself an iPhone that I should not have one because I am

A Resolution for 2012

2012-01-08T08:38:00.000-05:00

Like a bad virus this is making its way around the Internet, but I wanted to save it for reviewing on a regular basis. I know grammar is my weakness, and that my writing annoys the hell out of grammar geeks. I care, but not very much to be perfectly honest. (Yes, I know that is a cliche' and I shouldn't be remarking on it as a parenthetical statement.) I do, however, care enough to

Miscellaneous Musings

2012-01-07T13:44:00.001-05:00

The other night someone (thank you Lesley) asked me to post another installment of my new novel on this blog. It was such a welcome complement! I was thrilled. And it was gratifying too since I have been hard at work on it all week; immersed full time in research for it and having reached an 8300 word count as of this morning. It is easily the most exciting writing project I have ever

Out this morning;

2012-01-05T10:25:00.000-05:00

Jim Tierney: 'Not ready to go' | SeacoastOnline.com

The Christmas Story

2011-12-22T19:05:00.000-05:00

I've decided to post an excerpt from the novel that I just started this week. Primarly because of this passage's similarity with the Christmas story. It has nothing at all to do with the that story, but you'll see the similarity. Of course, I would love to hear what you think of this very rough first draft. Do you get a good sense of time and place and who the character is? She had

These kinds of stories...

2011-12-15T09:16:00.000-05:00

absolutely make my head spin. How does one know where to turn or what to do next? I concede I am clueless. I am going to stick with the old-fashioned submission process for now, but am not sure for how long. I call this part of the process pimping out my book. It is utterly unenjoyable. http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052970204770404577082303350815824-lMyQjAxMTAxMDAwOTEwNDkyWj.html

Opening paragraph

2011-12-13T09:39:00.000-05:00

As promised I will post a bit now about reworking the introductory paragraph of my novel which I have done with the generous cajoling of author Hallie Ephron. She had offered to read one paragraph of emailed work to everyone in attendance at a talk she gave to writers during NaNoWriMo. I immediately knew I would be sending her my first paragraph. I knew it wasn't good enough and yet I was

2011-12-07T12:21:00.001-05:00

I actually miss the challenge of brainstorming a picture book idea every morning, but it is time to get on with doing something with all of those ideas now. Many of my ideas were about sharing Native American philosophy with children, and now I hope to do a series of children's books on that subject to follow the one I have already finished. Since I have yet to send the finished one out to

Tell me what you think...

2011-12-01T07:56:00.000-05:00

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20111201-LIFE-112010306

Pitchapalooza

2011-11-23T08:48:00.000-05:00

Well, I guess I put the looza in pitchapalooza. Although it was a big step for me as it was the first time I ever pitched a book, and to do it publicly in front of about one hundred strangers was not the easiest thing to do. I did get some positive feedback. Two of the judges used the word "fascinating" after I gave my one minute pitch for my novel at a local book store. .. But I did not

Update

2011-11-18T20:23:00.001-05:00

I'm sure it appears by my lack of blog posts lately that I've been slacking, but as tends to be true, things are not really what they seem to be. It feels like I have been working harder than ever. Not earning more than ever, just working harder. There certainly have been distractions; the usual home and family mini-emergencies which are tolling in on a very regular basis of late. Time and

warm off the presses...

2011-11-03T10:30:00.002-04:00

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20111103-LIFE-111030329

Happy PiBoIdMo!

2011-11-01T09:15:00.000-04:00

Each year I cringe at NaNoWriMo being held in November. I have always liked the idea of the challenge, but November is a daunting month for me. I am a single working mom. I have Thanksgiving and one child's birthday to get through. That is one week of the month shot right there for me! (I spend much of November in the kitchen, and I like it that way.) So when I learned a couple of weeks ago

Ok kids,

2011-10-31T13:47:00.000-04:00

you didn't do very well with the first round of the game. The correct answer was Catch-22. Let's try another .... The following is the first line in what novel? A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green.

name the novel

2011-10-29T09:54:00.000-04:00

that opens with this sentence; It was love at first sight.

Coming Soon! - WAE Network

2011-10-27T10:06:00.000-04:00

I am intrigued... Coming Soon! - WAE Network

A Decade of Magical Thinking

2011-10-25T11:14:00.000-04:00

I put off reading Joan Didion's book for years. Not, I think, due to everyday ordinary old procrastination, but a bit more due to fear. When I was first widowed I read as much as I could about widows, fiction and not. I think I was searching for role models not having any idea how to be what sudden life circumstances had forced me to become. But for some reason that I am still unsure of I

Degas and the Nude

2011-10-19T10:00:00.000-04:00

I was surprised yesterday, albeit pleasantly, at how inspired I was by my visit to the Degas and the Nude exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Not surprised at being inspired, per se. In fact, I am almost always inspired when I study art, but usually I am inspired to create visual art, or perhaps more precisely I am usually inspired to be a frustrated wannabe. But today while

Pondering publishing

2011-10-17T09:39:00.000-04:00

Lots to think about here; http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/17/technology/amazon-rewrites-the-rules-of-book-publishing.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&smid=fb-share&pagewanted=all&adxnnlx=1318858346-Tj9A3IXGDfgeZ6fDLpkj6A

Finished!!

2011-10-10T08:24:00.000-04:00

My novel is done. 40,350 words. Hope that isn't too short? The revision stage was really enjoyable. Now on to the marketing stage which I don't think is going to be very much fun at all...

Todays column

2011-10-06T07:17:00.000-04:00

Tea for Two: Shiva (Sarah) Shapiro: A newcomer a long time ago | SeacoastOnline.com

Does Early Shoplifting Lead to the Writing Life?

2011-10-05T15:20:00.001-04:00

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/10/10/111010fa_fact_smith When I read this piece in the current New Yorker I was transported back to sometime around the tumultuous year of 1968, to a department store most likely in Manchester, New Hampshire. I remember that I was wearing a brightly decorated but mostly yellow big kind of hippie shirt we called "a smock" that had two big pockets

Children’s book at top of latest banned book list

2011-09-30T09:02:00.000-04:00

I wish I could buy a copy of this picture book for every little kid in the country. Wrap it up with a big beautiful bow. Read it to each and every one of them in an old rocking chair. Take a look at the link. I promise no harm will come to you... Children’s book at top of latest banned book list This is the book>

Widdendreams

2011-09-23T08:30:00.000-04:00

Here's a little something that I wrote this week when given the challenge to complete 500 words on the subject of widdendream. Immediately attracted to the word itself I did some research on it, and it brought to mind a bum I had seen walking a New Hampshire city sidewalk recently. A warm summer day, I remember noticing him wearing many heavy items of clothing, but was most struck by how he

Blogging about a Blog

2011-09-15T14:06:00.000-04:00

I wanted to share this wonderful blog post I ran across this morning. It is called Writers Houses and is devoted to "the art of literary pilgrimage". An indulgence I try to engage in regularly and would like to write about too. This entry, just posted today, is about the Sarah Orne Jewett house in South Berwick, Maine, which I have visited many times and lived near for over a decade, in my

Update

2011-09-12T07:32:00.000-04:00

Three poems accepted for publication last month! That's a record. They are all due to appear in an anthology called The Widows' Handbook to be published in 2012. Also found this article interesting; http://www.npr.org/2011/09/12/140336146/for-the-dying-a-chance-to-rewrite-life?ft=1&f=1001&sc=tw&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Tea for Two today

2011-09-08T06:31:00.000-04:00

Tea for Two: Looking back at lessons learned | SeacoastOnline.com

‘Bumble-Ardy’

2011-09-07T08:26:00.000-04:00

Another of my favorite New Hampshire writers, with further testimony that grief greatly influences writing. I'm looking forward to reading this; Maurice Sendak on ‘Bumble-Ardy’

Books With Soundtracks: The Future of Reading? - The Atlantic

2011-08-31T09:12:00.000-04:00

I hadn't given this idea any thought before now. While I have always enjoyed the silence of reading, the truth is most of the time I don have some type of background noise going on while I read. I will probably check one out on my iphone just to be fair. I'm leaning toward the Salmon Rushdie sort story mentioned in the article. It's fascinating to think about soundtracks to your favorite

Pretty Big Week

2011-08-30T16:43:00.000-04:00

and I'm not talking hurricanes. I finished the first draft of my novel yesterday! It does still need plenty of work but it is a huge milestone for me to have gotten to this point. I had started two others before that I haven't finished yet. (I do hope to finish them at some point.) It's very exciting, and starting on the revising process feels like a blast. I wish that I could hole up

".... an oddly pleasant sense of anticipation."

2011-08-27T13:09:00.002-04:00

I have just discovered the writer Joyce Maynard. Not at all sure how I missed her. I have always been partial to reading native New Hampshire writers, but I was just introduced to her work by a mutual friend last week. A used copy of the good daughters (HarperCollins, 2010) arrived while I was out last night. A novel set in NH about women growing up I was anxious to delve in and did so this

Published last week in Seacoast Scene with photos;

2011-08-19T09:17:00.000-04:00

Community Radio By Tammi J Truax Did you know that you have your own radio station? Yes, it is yours. Portsmouth Community Radio, called WSCA 106.1, on the FM dial. Chances are you didn’t know it and haven’t been listening. Most radio listeners still choose commercial radio most of the time, and WSCA is a low power (LP) station that can’t be heard in some places, though anyone can

The second time I have had to write an obituary;

2011-08-15T09:57:00.001-04:00

Dr. Hugh A. Harter, Retired Professor Emeritus, Author and Translator Hugh A. Harter, of Portsmouth, NH, died Saturday afternoon August 13, 2011 at his home with the peaceful pull of the Piscataqua River outside his window to lull his passing. Professor Harter was born in Columbus Ohio in December of 1922, and raised there by his parents, Anthony and Georgiana (Hayes) Harter. He

A Writer’s Life

2011-08-10T11:16:00.000-04:00

A Writer’s Life

Published recently in Seacoast Scene

2011-08-07T18:54:00.001-04:00

Remembering President George Washington on the Fourth of JulyBy Tammi J Truax Ogling old houses is a Portsmouth pastime. It is our way of remembering and respecting our history. Locals love to do it, and visitors come from far and wide to join us. Most folks know of Strawbery Banke, our living history museum, with its many restored houses. Nearby are two that are sometimes mistaken as being

My column;

2011-08-04T10:24:00.000-04:00

Sharon Jones: 'I thank God that I have the music' | SeacoastOnline.com

Half done?

2011-07-30T10:56:00.002-04:00

Passed the 25,000 word count on my book this morning!

In Seacoast Scene this week;

2011-07-26T16:41:00.000-04:00

“Now … bring me that horizon.” ~ Captain Jack SparrowBy Tammi J Truax I’ve been hesitant to write this article. Part of me does not want to turn anyone else on to kayaking on the Seacoast. Selfishly I would like to keep the waterways to myself. The peacefulness of kayaking, what some call the yoga of kayaking, is what drew me to it in the first place. The sensation of becoming one with the

Food for thought;

2011-07-24T07:42:00.000-04:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/books/review/why-writers-belong-in-prison.html?_r=3&nl=books&emc=booksupdateemb3&pagewanted=all

The Gift Writers Give

2011-07-18T06:39:00.000-04:00

It has been much too long since I read some Pam Houston. Here are some inspiring words about inspiration;The Gift Writers Give

Networking or Prostituting?

2011-07-08T07:31:00.000-04:00

Sandwiched around a delightful but much too brief trip to Cape Cod, I have been surging ahead in the not totally shameless self-promotion that is required of a writer today. I tend to make these changes slowly. Sometimes I have to be drugged and dragged into the present. I joined Twitter. I really didn't want to, finding that Face Book met my needs nicely, but I had been getting a fair

Getting High Every Morning

2011-06-30T16:23:00.000-04:00

So I want to apologize. I know I have been terribly remiss in my blogging. And I am sorry for that. I do feel bad. But not very. The thing is I have been immersed in a very prolific period. I have been writing like crazy. Can't stop. Most mornings I am at it by 5 AM. And it's been wonderful. I am having a great time. I've been on a roll, on a tear. I can't stop writing. It might be that I'm

This just ...

2011-06-21T08:28:00.000-04:00

answered a question I was after, so I thought I'd share it; http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/fiction/2004/12/how_many_pages_.html

Something I wrote recently that didn't make it to print;

2011-06-20T12:21:00.000-04:00