The Ebb and Flow of Love

By Laurie Epps

This past semester in my Art History class we had a creative writing option in lieu of our term paper assignment. Being a creative writing major, and completely burnt out on a thesis driven paper, I just embraced to express myself and my ideas in a different way.

Of all the portraits, Portrait of a Young Woman by Mary Louise Elisabeth really resonated with me. I imagined the subject of this French rococo painter to have the sweet and precocious nature of Marianne as in Sense and Sensibility of Jane Austen. So I just went with my idea, and much to my essay's delight. Please send a query to my email for a copy of this essay. Embedded in the essay, was a poem from her suitor. I will share with you his poem to her below.

Writing as a Process

By Laurie Epps

Happy Memorial Day!

Writing is a process. Often as writers, we are the keepers of details. Without all the elements, we'll never have a finished work. This week in Writing Down the Bones, Goldberg talks about cultivating our ideas, and fine tuning our details to resonate with our readers. Show the readers we know our stuff instead of just telling them.

As a woman, I related with the obsessions, and the baking analogies. So don't just read the column, try the techniques. They work, and don't forget to share your experience with all of us. Join the conversation.

Little Flicker

By Laurie Epps

I am dedicating the month of May to the unsung mothers out there.

Any woman who has been pregnant after 1992, has experienced the miracle of seeing their precious baby on the screen of the ultrasound sound machine. For most, this is a joyous occasion. But this poem is about when something goes wrong, and terribly wrong. In those quiet moments in a sterile hospital environment, panic sets in, and the mother's anxiety is both maddening and deafening. I attempted to capture those brief moments of sheer desperation.

Disconnecting Our Writing from Life

By Laurie Epps

As writers, we observe and capture life's moments. Sometimes we forget that the two aren't all inclusive of each other. We can be writing about a memory, or about something we are learning about. Writing is it's own art form, and we need to live in the moment to create and sculpt our ideas. Once we have manipulated those moments in time, space, or the recesses of our mind we spill them out onto the page in new ways to bring forth our ideas. Read on to learn about the cultivating process of purging these ideas and spilling them onto the page or screen.

I Dreamed of You

By Laurie Epps

This May Column is dedicated to the moms who have lost a baby either in the womb or after birth.

Dreams. The moment you find out you are pregnant, you start dreaming about your baby. Everything from your baby's nursery, to what your child would look like are creeping into your every thought. Sometimes we even dream about what the baby grow to maybe become one day. All those dreams are lost the day your child is either miscarried, still born, or dies at a young age. It seems like such a tragedy. Share your dream with me in the comments section.

Writing From Scratch

By Laurie Epps

Every writer has had a moment, that even though vocationally we are writers, it is an act that eludes us. We either stare down the blank screen, or we simply don't take the time to write.  Natalie Goldberg addresses these issues in Writing Down the Bones

Crying Myself to Sleep

By Laurie Epps

May is known for May flowers, Mother's Day, and honor to our military. But this month, I am dedicating to the unsung Mothers. There are mothers out there, that never got to hold their baby, or bring their baby home. Miscarriage is so misunderstood by those who have never had one. Nothing can prevent it from happening, and if you are past ten weeks of pregnancy it means you go to the hospital to have a baby that you never bring home. This is for the moms and dads who have suffered this loss.

Where Do We Begin?

By Laurie Epps

We are discussing Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg. Below, you will see my outlines of the various themes in the book.

Beginners Mind: Pen & Paper p. 5

Writers tools are very important, whether pen and paper or laptop, typewriter or recording device; make it personal experiment.....

Goldberg's example was a drawing pad. Choose your supplies carefully but not so carefully that you are shopping instead of writing.

How do you pick your supplies? Please share with us below.

Lost Child of Mine

Thoughtful Thursdays: A Poetic Column

This month I wanted to do a little something different. As a veteran, and mom to three living children, and grieving mother to yet another three babies: I dedicate this month's column to you, the unsung mother's of the world. Without my own losses, these poems would not exist. I open my heart, and my empathy to you.

With great homage, and my dearest sympathy, I wish you all a very Happy Mothers Day. 
~From one mom to another