Volume VIII, Issue 5
February 4, 2019
Word of the Week: decision
Dear ,
This week, I’m not keeping your writing prompt secret until you reach the end of the Word-zine, as I gave it away in the subject line. But this question, a rewording of the
fabulous opening line of today's featured writing, an excerpt of What We Set In Motion by Stephanie Austin Edwards, was just too good not to use!
You'll meet Stephanie soon, and hear about the great way we met, but first, let me say that one of the bravest—and, as it turned out, smartest—decisions I ever made was to move more than 600 miles from my hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania, down to Charlotte, North Carolina, when I was 21 years old. All by myself, I might add.
Who could have imagined all the wonderful outcomes, from meeting my sweet husband Richard in a Harris-Teeter all the way to here almost 35 years of marriage and his support of me and WordPlay, culminating in, of all things, a Groundhog Day Open House!
February 2nd was indeed a day of great gratitude, and a celebration, not just of my new book, Tag, I’m It!: A Daily Journal of Thanks-Giving, Act-Knowledge-ment, and Gratitude, but also of the amazing group of writers I have the privilege to know. Many of those who came Saturday read from their work—it was a joy to celebrate their talent and achievements.
While I'm so grateful to everyone who attended, and to the many other people who sent good wishes (thank you for yours, whether you had the time to write or not), I have to give a shout-out to WordPlayer Bridgett Bell Langson, to whom Tag, I’m It! is dedicated. Bridgett is the author of a perfect (and adorable) book for any dog-loving child, Finding Home: My Arf-O-Biography. She's also a huge help and support to me in many ways, including helping tremendously with the Open House, and it was her enthusiasm for my "focus on the goodness" journal process that had me take the brave
step to make it available for anyone else interested in capturing the best of each and every day in this way.
And, yes, there really were groundhog cookies, as you can see, thanks to my
sister, Mary Ryan Harsh, who did most of the baking. (In case you haven't heard, the head honcho groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, did not see his shadow, which means, if you believe the legend, that we'll have an early spring.)
Saturday was a really fun day, and my only regret is that, in all the excitement, I didn't think to take a photo every hour, instead of just the last one. NOTE: This photo ties in nicely with this week's word: the plaque on the far left atop the bookshelves reads: "Bad decisions make
great stories." Not that any of us in this photo has ever made a bad decision, right? :)
This is my not-so-subtle segue back to the writer who gave us this week's word, Stephanie Austin Edwards, whom I met
at the Pat Conroy Literary Center in Beaufort, South Carolina last month. (You may recall my saying, when I featured Our Prince of Scribes several issues ago, that Pat Conroy would be back in the Word-zine soon. Here I am (with encouragement from Stephanie, who was the best docent ever!) sitting in Pat's writing chair. Can you tell how humbled I felt?
Stephanie and I bonded when we discovered that we shared the good fortune of having had
Judy Goldman for a teacher. Here's what Judy wrote about Stephanie's book What We Set in Motion, featured below: "This passionate and engrossing novel explores the human struggle for independence—particularly for women, particularly for
southern women from very traditional families. Each page shimmers with a boundless energy. The author has created a world that is real, which means there are profound lessons here about life and love that you will carry away. It's a book I'm thrilled to recommend."
I'm thrilled with the decision Richard and I made to go to Beaufort, and to the Pat Conroy Literary Center, so that I could find out about Stephanie and her novel and share them both with you.
May your brave decisions bring you and yours great good,
Maureen
Upcoming WordPlay
WRITE LIKE A GENIUS
(Expanding Our Creativity; Learning New Tools for Our Writing and Our Lives; Creating New Writing)
Discover your own genius as you learn to apply seven fascinating approaches of Leonardo da Vinci to your writing. These techniques enliven non-fiction, poetry and fiction. Expect fun, inspiration and writing galore in your preferred genre, with opportunities to share your work.
$630 for one week-long session (lodging and meals are additional – options can be found on the Folk School website)
WHERE: John Campbell Folk School, 1 Folk School Road, Brasstown, NC 28902
WHEN: Sunday, May 26th – Saturday, June 1st, 2019.
TO REGISTER: To register, please click this link to register through the John Campbell Folk School website.
More WordPlay opportunities here.
Before Stephanie returned to the Lowcountry of South Carolina, and to her love of writing, she had a twenty-two-year career in New York Theater. First as a dancer and
then a costumer, on Broadway, in film and on television, she found herself working with such talents as Liza Minnelli, Michael Jackson, Lauren Bacall, Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, Hal Prince, Stephen Sondheim, Bill Cosby, and Michael Bennett. She attended high school in Beaufort, SC along with her friend Pat Conroy, graduated from San Diego State University, and studied at UCLA and The New School for Social Research.
Stephanie's debut novel, What We Set in Motion, won a Best Submission Award at the Atlanta Writer’s Club Conference. She has written articles for Beaufort Magazine, Lowcountry Weekly and ArtNews; has short stories in RiverSedge and Short Story America VI; is a contributing author to Our Prince of Scribes, an
anthology about Pat Conroy; and is a featured author in the first season SCETV [PBS] series By the River about Lowcountry authors.
When not writing or cruising down the river with her husband, Paul Coffman, she facilitates writer’s groups, teaches writing workshops, consults with authors and enjoys giving tours at The Pat Conroy Literary Center.
Check out Stephanie's website at: www.stephanieaustinedwards.com
It was the bravest decision I ever made.
I walked into the perfectly appointed living room of our historic Lowcountry home as if on a scouting mission. Across the room, Daddy sat in his burgundy leather chair, his feet on the ottoman, reading The Beaufort Gazette and sipping his afternoon Jack Daniels on-the-rocks. His blue oxford-cloth shirt and tan chinos, almost a uniform for him, looked fresh and starched in contrast
to the humidity hanging in the outside air.
“Hey, Daddy,” I whispered, testing his mood. The light from the table lamp shone off his balding head.
Silence was his response.
Motivated and driven like my daddy, I was about to graduate in December, finishing college one semester early. According to him, I lacked nothing in my twenty years. By adding a diploma to my compulsory training in etiquette, cotillion, equestrian and sailing, he often boasted to whoever would listen that I would be among the most polished young girls in the rural South. As a member of one
of the few families able to regain their empire after the “War of Northern Aggression,” maybe I should have realized sooner that Samuel Preston Barnwell had plans for me the minute I stepped off the stage.
At the fireplace I adjusted the cluttered pictures on the mantel to steady myself, and search for the man I used to know. Daddy had once been my hero and carried me with him everywhere. On boat rides to the far reaches of the South Carolina Sea Islands and up the brackish creeks inland to Colleton County, he taught me to fish, crab and shoot. In Savannah and Charleston I attended the
symphony and visited art museums. In Columbia I watched him work his keen business sense.
My hand reached for a picture of Daddy and me when I was about seven, standing beside his ’57 black Ford pickup, each holding fishing rods and stringers of spot tail bass. Next to that was another picture of us, this time in a field. I was eight, pointing my first rifle toward the sky. Wearing a camouflage shirt and pants, Daddy grinned brightly at the camera under a full head of sandy
blonde hair, his arm wrapped tight around my shoulders.
I set the picture back and searched for other familiar ones. When did my recital pictures leave the mantle? Mama always displayed my ballet pictures right in the center, but they weren't there now.
“So, have you decided if you're going on to graduate school at that fancy college of yours?” Daddy barked into his newspaper, breaking the silence, but still not looking up. “Or can I count on you coming home where you belong and back to work with me?"
WordPlay Now! Writing Prompt
This is WordPlay—so why not revel in the power and potential of one good word after another? This
week, it's "decision."
PROMPT: What is the “bravest decision [you, or a character,] has ever made”? Write an
essay, scene, story, or poem about this decision and what came of it.
It's fun to play with prompts in community with fellow writers, and to be able to share the results when you're done. You can find out about WordPlay classes, workshops, and retreats here.
MAUREEN RYAN GRIFFIN, an award-winning poetry and nonfiction writer, is the author of Spinning Words into Gold, a Hands-On Guide
to the Craft of Writing, a grief workbook entitled I Will Never Forget You, and three collections of poetry, Ten Thousand Cicadas Can't Be Wrong, This Scatter of Blossoms and When the Leaves Are in the Water.
She believes, as author Julia Cameron says, "We are meant to midwife dreams for one another." Maureen also believes that serious "word work" requires serious WordPlay, as play is how we humans best
learn—and perform. What she loves best is witnessing all the other dreams that come true for her clients along the way. Language, when used with intentionality and focus, is, after all, serious fuel for joy. Here's to yours!
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