When I was 18 years old, my mother wrote me this. Something you said really struck me, and I wanted to reply to that. It was when you said you knew you'd been a lot of trouble. Well, yes, you've been a lot of trouble...a lot of pain and sorrow and just plain ain-in-the-ass. Point …
Author: mapelba
I'm a writer, artist, teacher, mother, wife, daughter, friend, coffee addict... What else? A success, a failure, a mess, a fan, a hater of housework, a lover of dogs, a liberal, an obsessive, and a bunch of other things that probably would never occur to me. I reveal myself in more ways in my writings and art than in any list of adjectives. And whoever you are, I hope most of all that you are a reader.
reading the past
Since I've decided to write my mother's novel, ahem, I'm rereading her letters. Letters she saved from other people and letters she sent to me. The novel she started is, after all, veiled autobiography. My mother once wrote me, A la M [the ex-boyfriend], I just decided to go ahead and write a novel, as …
The answer is 42.
I've no ideas for blogging. I've ideas for stories, for art, for conversation, and no time to pursue them. My laptop won't accept any discs and so I can't get my scanner to work because I can't use the start up disc. One camera is broken and the other camera needs batteries. My writing time …
the list
Going through the notes my mother wrote for her novel, I found a list of chapter titles. Reality Testing Wulfen The FBI, CIA, Mafia, and my .38 His mother, my clothes His daughter The Last Christmas Ballad Harper, The FBI, and the CIA The Peeping Tom Ghosts Lybia :the girl in the window :fire from …
the death man
NaNoWriMo is coming. I haven't been writing and have been overwhelmed at work, and so thinking that I can write a novel in November is foolishness. But I love NaNoWriMo. And I've got an idea. Before my mother died, she started a novel. She called it The Death Man and it was autobiographical. It is …
The Past Is a Discovered Country But Poorly Understood
The picture here was taken only after about two or three days in Bulgaria as a Peace Corps volunteer. It was July 4th and I hardly knew any of my fellow volunteers. Over the next 2 years perhaps we got to know each too well in some ways and not nearly enough in others. Seventeen …
Continue reading The Past Is a Discovered Country But Poorly Understood
Asking for Trouble
When I say to her, "That's a pretty bracelet," she says, "Thanks! I bought it from a Christian jeweler!" When I say, "I like the painting over the fireplace," she says, "Thanks! I got it from a Christian painter!" And I confess, I want to say, "Oh, well, thank heaven it wasn't a Muslim or …
Understanding Character
I walked toward the door of Joe's thinking my worries were over. Not that my stomach didn't twist a bit. That Guy might be there. But that was silly. He'd had one disagreement with the owners, been accused of bothering female customers, it is only in my writer imagination that he'd be in there. I …
If you accidentally swallowed leaches with your soup…
If you could give guilt a physical form, what would it be? Pick any emotion. What would anger be? Or love? Or apathy? One month ago, we got a second dog. Our first dog, Porter, is now 14. We got him 13 years ago at the animal shelter. A Corgi mix, he is an awesome …
Continue reading If you accidentally swallowed leaches with your soup…
And that’s the end.
I went to Joe's today to buy coffee and breakfast tacos. One of the owners, D., was working the counter, and he asked if I had a moment to talk. D. talked to That Guy on the phone. They'd had some other issue with him--"weird" chimed in D's partner--but he also talked about me. D. …
Marta Pelrine-Bacon 