May 2012

Poems, Short Stories, What Comes Next?

May 25, 2012
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I started out writing poetry, and although I feel it is my strongest genre there are times my poems don’t say enough. Poems are like the sharpened tips of pencils, a focus point of an idea. Some hint at stories I want to tell, but long poems don’t suit me. If I tell a story [...]

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The Jessamyn West Creative Writing Contest

May 23, 2012

Congratulations to the winners of this year’s Jessamyn West Creative Writing Contest. Harry McPherson, the first president of Napa Valley College, established the writing contest in honor of his wife, Jessamyn West to encourage beginning writers. Born in 1902, Jessamyn West is best known for her short stories depicting “rural American life without sentiment or [...]

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The Stories in My Head

May 4, 2012

When I was a girl, I used to look around and tell stories in my head about what I saw.  When I discovered the art of transcribing it, the life inside me connected with the world around me. Writing wasn’t something I chose to try; rather, it became something I was compelled to do.  First [...]

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