My novel launched today! (Here at Amazon.) Since the story is set in the summer of 1985, I've been thinking back to those high school days. What were you like in high school? I wasn't popular. I liked to be in the art room with a sketch pad or a book. The drawing posted here …
Every decade has its personality, right? Although it's tricky because it isn't as if everything changes on January 1st of that zero year. When exactly did the '80s become THE '80s? What historical events mark the period? The election of Reagan perhaps? The beginning of MTV? I graduated in 1986, the year Ferris Bueller skipped …
My novel is set in the summer of 1985. That summer I loved Howard Jones and I was about to start my senior year of high school. If you were around in the '80s, what did you love and what did you hate? * * * My novel, The Blue Jar, will be released as …
Today I finished chemo. One surgery remains. The toxins will leave my body, my hair will grow back, and I'll get to call myself a survivor. But aren't we all survivors if we make it to another day? I don't know, but I find survivor a strange thing to call myself. Many people are kind …
October begins! This is the month my novel, The Blue Jar, enters the world as an e-book. At some point, the book may appear in paper form as well. And what writer doesn't dream of holding her book in her hand? I try to be realistic, but I am a writer and an artist. I …
October promises many things. Let's hope October keeps such promises. The first Friday of October will be my last day of chemo. Thank the stars. I've had fewer side-effects than many. I'm lucky. This has been week ten of Taxel. The nurse told me that the 10th week is the most common week for neuropathy …
My adult ESL class is reading The Great Gatsby. I teach the advanced reading class and the goal of the class is to prepare the students for university. I also assign essays related to Gatsby, articles about the American dream and the like. Students in past classes enjoyed the novel. Some students even liked the …
Some friends may think this is aimed at them. It isn't. They may have inspired me, but that's not the same thing. When was the last time you changed your mind? I don't mean you decided not to have your usual Monday breakfast. I mean, you changed your mind about the death penalty, abortion, climate …
Recently I wrote about Star Trek's place in my life. But I first fell for Star Trek as a child. Some loves came into my life later. Twin Peaks premiered after I'd moved to Ohio for grad school. I'd made a few friends at Kent, but I felt alone and out of my depth in …
What story changed your life? Maybe that's too dramatic? Well, what story shaped or moved your opinions one way another? My parents didn't tell me often how or what to think. "It's up to you," they said. How did my mother vote? I don't know. She wouldn't tell me. "You have to decide for yourself," …
Marta Bacon 