Fiction Writers Get to Play Pretend

By Lynn Slaughter / May 18, 2016 /

Even as a kid, I loved reading the newspaper, especially the advice columns. The problems people wrote about fascinated me—cheating husbands, in-laws from hell, warring siblings. Long before there was reality television, there was Ann Landers. Half the fun was in reading her salty responses to the letters she received. Not surprisingly, “advice columnist” landed…

Losing My Mom

By Lynn Slaughter / May 11, 2016 /

My mother’s sister Margaret dropped dead at 84. She was feeding her cat. At the time, I didn’t appreciate what a terrific way to go this was. It was

Depressed Friend or Loved One? What Not to Say

By Lynn Slaughter / May 7, 2016 /

Very few people have ever laid eyes on the husband of a very successful local author. She attends all writing and social events without him. “He suffers from the depression,” she once explained in

CUT ME FREE by J.R. Johansson: A Memorable Read

By Lynn Slaughter / April 27, 2016 /

I always know a book has touched something deep inside me when days after finishing it, I’m still immersed in the world of the characters and wondering how they’re doing since I last read about them! Yes, I do know there’s a difference between fictional characters

Blaming My Neural Circuitry

By Lynn Slaughter / April 20, 2016 /

As a kid, I was regularly criticized by my family members for being “too sensitive.” Even as I vehemently denied the accusation, my feelings were terribly hurt! And secretly

Psychic Pleasures

By Lynn Slaughter / April 13, 2016 /

Years ago, I took a communications course from a professor who announced on the first day, “There’s no such thing as altruism.” A staunch proponent of exchange theory, he insisted that all social interactions are governed by people’s desire to gain a reward in exchange for providing something of value to others. I gamely attempted…

In My Next Life, I Want to Be Dean Koontz

By Lynn Slaughter / April 6, 2016 /

Okay. I admit it. I’m incredibly jealous of Dean Koontz. It’s not just his prodigious talent and prolific success as a writer. It’s also that he still writes on an old Commodore word processor. He’s never bothered to learn how to do email. If he needs to send a message, he simply writes it out…

Counting My “Lucky Days”

By Lynn Slaughter / March 30, 2016 /

“This is my lucky day, Mee-Ma,” my six year old granddaughter announced. “Our class got to go swimming, I had chess club after school, and now take a look!” She proudly presented me with a bloody tooth. “Wow, the tooth fairy is going to be busy tonight,” I said.

Personality: Invalid?

By Lynn Slaughter / March 24, 2016 /

The other day, my son called up and said with a laugh, “Mom, I’m sorry to tell you this, but I have an invalid personality.” “What do you mean?” “I took this personality test, and it says I’m ‘invalid.’”

Thinking About Peyton

By Lynn Slaughter / March 16, 2016 /

Okay, so I don’t have his millions—of dollars, of fans, of accolades. But the other day, when the great quarterback Peyton Manning made it official and tearfully announced his retirement after eighteen seasons, all I could think was, “I feel your pain.” The number eighteen is familiar to me. It’s the number of seasons I…

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