Marianna Crane

MEETING GOALS

meeting goals

I’ve written about getting this book done so a draft will be finished by September first. (Post: Time To Get Serious). I’ve listed goals to be accomplished by the end of each month. I only have to tweak one story to meet my target for April and since there is one more day in April,…… Continue reading MEETING GOALS

BEST TIME TO BE A WRITER

Seems that this is a great time to be a writer. At least that’s what I heard at the fifth annual Triangle Area Freelancers Nonfiction Writers Conference yesterday. I had attended the last three. Each year only gets better. What I liked most was the conference was small enough to feel part of a friendly,…… Continue reading BEST TIME TO BE A WRITER

Write What You Are Afraid Of

Afraid to write

I didn’t attend the 2011 Fall Conference in Asheville sponsored by the North Carolina Writers Network but I kept this description of one of the master classes: “If You’re Afraid to Write About It, You Probably Should Write About It” Often a writer’s breakthrough comes when he finally faces up to material he’s been avoiding.…… Continue reading Write What You Are Afraid Of

Time To Get Serious

I woke up one morning this past January and decided it was time to get serious about losing weight and finishing the book. First of all, I have been carrying around ten extra pounds for years until they magically morphed into twenty extra pounds. Second, over the past seven years I have written and rewritten…… Continue reading Time To Get Serious

SOB SISTERS

Thanks to my friend Lois Roelofs and her post “Growing Older In “Style,” I found Ari Seth Cohen, a twenty-eight-year-old who is spotlighting “stylish senior citizens.” Love it. Older women—and men—who ignore the old adage: “dress your age.” How come a twenty-eight-year-old man finds older people so fascinating? Well, I was sure there had to…… Continue reading SOB SISTERS

Humor and Humility

It started out on a rainy day in January. Like the rest of overweight America, I had resurrected old New Year resolutions. I wandered into a branch of a not-to-be-identified weight loss program and approached a young lady sorting out pamphlets. After giving me the information I requested, she excitedly told me that I would…… Continue reading Humor and Humility

A Nurse By Any Other Name—

I read the New York Times article, A Small Picture Approach to Health Care last week with so what’s new thoughts hopping in my head. Sure, the economics of funding health care services continues to be a challenge but we nurses can see the real change agent of this model’s Advocate Health Care approach is the…… Continue reading A Nurse By Any Other Name—

Never Too Old

I am empowered knowing age does not limit our creativity. James Arruda Henry learned to read and write in his mid-nineties. He didn’t stop there but went on to write a book: In a Fisherman’s Language. As a gerontological nurse practitioner and woman of a certain age I am delighted to promote his story.

Long Lost Story

Just last week I came across a folder in an old box on the bottom of a closet. There I found accordion-pleated sheets of paper where I had written about the Donovan family in single space dot-matrix some twenty years ago. Bill Donovan had lung cancer with metastasis to his bones and brain. He died…… Continue reading Long Lost Story

The Importance of the Poem

Earlier today I attended a poetry reading at an independent bookstore a few miles south of where I live. A former instructor of mine, Florence Nash, along with two other female poets read from their chapbooks. Throughout the readings, I drifted on the words, phrases, rhythms, twists, poignancy, humor and surprise endings. I took Ms.…… Continue reading The Importance of the Poem