WRP: "Why Holly Jahangiri Writes"

Three days a week, I meet with other writers in Writing Room Prime on Zoom where we spend an hour focused on writing, plotting, or anything that advances our careers as writers. I've been asking the participants why they write. Here's one of the answers.

"Why do I write? I could give you the cliché answer: 'Because I must!' but that would be a lie. My muse and I are lazy and would just as soon travel the world, most days, without lifting a pen or tapping a keyboard. I write because writing is communication – a connection between my brain and the readers’ brains. The ability to convey not just useful, factual information, but to share whole, imaginary worlds, is endlessly fascinating to me. The ability to tap into universal themes and emotions, to make a reader half a world away feel something or realize that they’re not alone in feeling it, is amazing. There’s almost nothing I won’t write, from technical manuals to children’s books to short stories to poems. I wrote my first children’s book, Trockle, for my son, who was, at the time, just learning to read independently. And I suppose I also wrote it for Trockle, the little monster who lived under my son’s bed, who insisted on telling his side of the story. I didn’t set out to write a story about appreciating the differences in others, but that’s exactly what I did. I think the best children’s stories do have a message, but it should always come second to an entertaining tale. I hope Trockle is, first and foremost, fun to read. I don’t mind if young readers get the message, too."
~ Holly Jahangiri, poet and author of Trockle

Her work also appears in Dreams + Nightmares, Poets Northwest Anthology 2023

WRP: "Why Conni Lee Writes"

Three days a week, I meet with other writers in Writing Room Prime on Zoom where we spend an hour focused on writing, plotting, or anything that advances our careers as writers. I've been asking the participants why they write. Here's one of the answers.

"Why I write: Because I have so much to say and to share. But you probably know that. I’m not a normal person in that I take risks in life. Not the death-defying ones, but ones that seem to burst my norm. It makes life exciting for me. I write to share my stories about the risks I’ve taken whether it’s from a career that not many relate to, from my experiences in traumatic grief, or from taking on creative endeavors."
~ Conni Lee, author of the forthcoming Reclaiming October

WRP: "Why Kathy Renee Walker Writes"

Three days a week, I meet with other writers in Writing Room Prime on Zoom where we spend an hour focused on writing, plotting, or anything that advances our careers as writers. I've been asking the participants why they write. Here's one of the answers.

"The first time I remember writing something was in my eighth-grade English class. We were assigned a short essay. My home life had so much drama that I wrote about a place I went to for comfort and peace. The teacher told me I should write my thoughts in a journal. That was the beginning of several journals stacked up in my closet. As my life progressed and I faced my own mortality, I decided I wanted someone somewhere to know about me and my family. Most of my current projects are about my life but are fictionalized. It is my prayer that God allows me to write all of these stories. I currently have one finished and edited short story, two that will be full novels, two novelettes, one short story, a few poems, and one song lyric. When I get all of these on paper, I am sure I will have more. Now, I can't even imagine not writing. It is like fresh air in a stale world; I need it to live."
~ Kathy Renee Walker, author of the forthcoming For All of Time

WRP: "Why Wendy Blanton Writes"

Three days a week, I meet with other writers in Writing Room Prime on Zoom where we spend an hour focused on writing, plotting, or anything that advances our careers as writers. I've been asking the participants why they write. Here's one of the answers.

"The short answer is I write because I have to. I get cranky when I haven’t written for a while. Eventually, my husband will send me to my office for a time-out. So much of my life revolves around writing that I can’t imagine who I’d be if I gave it up. I write because I want to touch people's lives. I want to give them a safe place to hide from the real world for a while, and for them to come away refreshed, maybe with a new perspective. I want to level up--to get better and better until the last story is written."
~ Wendy Blanton, author of Dawn Before The Dark 

WRP: "Why Barbara Ehrentreu Writes"

Three days a week, I meet with other writers in Writing Room Prime on Zoom where we spend an hour focused on writing, plotting, or anything that advances our careers as writers. I've been asking the participants why they write. Here's one of the answers.

"The main reason I write is because I want people to know what I think. At the age of eight, I had a poem published in the school district newspaper. I loved the feeling of seeing my words on paper. But I didn’t start writing seriously until I was married with children and going to graduate school. I was able to meet some authors, and they heard a piece I had written about picking blueberries as a child. They all told me how good it was. I started my first novel the next year. I was able to get into a workshop by Paula Danziger, a well-known children’s writer, and I wrote three pages of my novel: If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor. Paula taught me how to write for children. I’ve been a writer ever since then."
~ Barbara Ehrentreu, author of If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor 

WRP: "Why Vivian Zabel Writes"

Three days a week, I meet with other writers in Writing Room Prime on Zoom where we spend an hour focused on writing, plotting, or anything that advances our careers as writers. I've been asking the participants why they write. Here's one of the answers. 

"My imagination has always worked overtime. Movies run in my head. Stories bubble up and over. If I don’t write, my dreams awaken me and yell at me, telling me to write, write, write. I began telling stories from my imagination as soon as I could talk. My mother saved some of my first written poetry and stories from when I was in third grade. I write because I have to do something with all those words, stories, characters, movies." 

~ Vivian Zabel, author of Prairie Dog Cowboy 

September Steppin'

This was a hot summer! Cooler weather has finally arrived, so heat stroke isn't winking and making advances on me as I walk around the neighborhood. 

Book News:
• I've been working on the cover for Murder by the Mile. Which may seem to be an odd thing to do since the book isn't completed, but it gives me something concrete to shoot for. Makes it more real. Writing a book can be a nebulous thing at times. What you see in your head—the movie in your mind as it were—and what you're writing can be wildly different. I always have to remember that writing could also be called rewriting and be just as true.
 • I've chosen Floozy Takes A Ramble as the title for the next humor book. Seems to fit better than anything else for a book of eclectic and eccentric writings. Of course, I reserve the right to change it if a better title comes along.
 • Buy all my books--and I do mean buy all--at online retailers and independent bookstores. This includes Floozy Goes Forth, Murder by Dewey Decimal, Murder by the Acre, Floozy Comes Back, Tales from Bethlehem, Floozy & Other Stories, Undying, and more!
Order my books from Amazon here!
Order my books from Books-A-Million here!
Order my books from Bookshop.org here!
Order my books from Magers & Quinn Booksellers here!
Order my books from Thrift Books here!
Order my books from Powell Books here!
Perfect for the readers in your life—and for you!

Personal news:
• My friend Kat Walker has started an art page on Facebook. See her work HERE!
• Need a laugh? Visit my friend Conni Lee on YouTube! See her perform HERE!
• My walking program continues. Sometimes it goes well. Other times I struggle. If that doesn't sum up life, I don't know what does.

Jokes of the Month: 
A highway patrolman pulls over a carload of nuns.
Patrolman: “Sister, this is a 65 MPH highway; why are you going so slow?”
Sister: “Sir, I saw a lot of signs that said 22, not 65.”
Patrolman: “That’s not the speed limit; that’s the name of the highway you’re on.”
Sister: “Oh! Silly me! Thanks for letting me know. I’ll be more careful.”
At this point, the patrolman looks in the backseat where the other nuns are shaking and trembling.
Patrolman: “Excuse me, Sister, what’s wrong with your friends back there?”
Sister: “Oh, we just got off Highway 131."

One day, two women were arguing about whose dog is smarter.
Helga says, "My dog's so smart, every morning he waits for the paperboy to come around, and then he takes the newspaper and brings it to me."
Zelma replies, "Oh, I know that."
Surprised, Helga asks, "How do YOU know?"
Zelma says, "My dog told me."

Quotes of the Month:
“To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone, and a funny bone.” ~ Reba McEntire
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” ~ Thomas Edison
“Honest criticism is hard to take, particularly from a relative, a friend, an acquaintance, or a stranger.” ~ Franklin P. Jones

Take care and stay safe. We'll chat again in October.