Posts by Lynn Slaughter
Politics by Bumper Sticker
Driving on the highway the other day, I passed a car with a “Coexist” bumper sticker, the cheerful one with symbols from the world’s great religions. Warm feelings flooded through me. I love these stickers. To me, they symbolize open-mindedness, inclusiveness, and respectful appreciation of our differences. I gave the driver a friendly smile as…
Read MoreWhen You Change Someone Else's Life, You Transform Your Own
We had a guest speaker yesterday at church. His name is David Benson, and he’s the founder of a Southern Indiana-based non-profit called “Dogs Helping Heroes.” As the product of a military family, he’d witnessed firsthand the physical, emotional and mental toll war takes on returning veterans. Many suffer from PTSD and a host of…
Read MoreMy Favorite Part about Writer's Conferences
I just got back from an amazing writer’s conference, In Your Write Mind, at Seton Hill University. It happens every June, and is not only for alums of their MFA program but for any interested writer. Not only was it chock full of great workshops, panels, opportunities to pitch to agents and an editor,…
Read MoreCelebrating Great Dads
Someone once told me, “A lousy childhood needn’t sentence you to a miserable life.” As a corollary, I’d say that having a less than an optimal relationship with your father doesn’t mean you can’t be a great father for your own kids. My older son’s dad had a father who adored his…
Read MoreReflections on My College Experience and Beyond
With a big college reunion coming up, we alums were asked to write an essay reflecting on our lives and college experience– really made me think about who I was as a college student and the directions my life took. Here’s what I wrote: Other than my summers teaching at Interlochen, I don’t think I’ve…
Read MoreAntidotes to Making Yourself Miserable as a Writer
Last week, I wrote about ways to make yourself miserable as a writer and received some excellent additions to my list from two author friends, Katie Kenyhercz and Patti Kurtz. I’m including their suggestions on my updated list: Spend hours each day lurking on social media and reading about the sweet publishing deals your…
Read MoreSix Surefire Ways to Make Yourself Miserable as a Writer
In honor of one of my all-time favorite books, Dan Greenburg’s How to Make Yourself Miserable, I offer these six surefire ways to torture yourself as a writer and insure continuous misery: Spend hours each day lurking on social media and reading about the sweet publishing deals your writer friends have gotten while you count…
Read MoreAsk an Author! Inquiring Minds Want to Know
One of the things I hadn’t fully anticipated about becoming a novelist is the frequency with which folks ask me questions—not only about the work itself, but about where I get my ideas, what my writing process is like, and what a typical writing day is like. This past week, I learned I would be…
Read MoreFeeling Thankful
I’ve been having one of those weeks where I felt like yelling out, “Bah, Humbug!” every five minutes. I’d broken out in some horrible itchy rash that hadn’t responded to the steroid meds the doctor assured me would kick in immediately. Not only do I look like crap, but I feel like total crap! Meantime,…
Read MoreOur Cat Lucy: A Member of the Family
Years ago when I was in grad school in sociology, I remember an article appeared in The Journal of Marriage and Family which pointed out that researchers were ignoring a major role player in family dynamics if they didn’t consider the family pet. At the time, that struck me as funny. But I also knew…
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