Letters to the Editor
desirein
Published Letters: 7 Editor's Choice: 1
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Crushes
[Read the article: I'm addicted to Harry Potter fan fiction!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I am currently addicted to Cary Tennis's advice column; prior to that it was Miss Snark, who I seemed to refresh early and often.
A couple of years ago I was at a writer's conference and in close proximity to a writer I admired. Fawned after. Could easily and quickly become addicted to. This was a very strange, wonderful and frightening sensation. Was I about to discard my husband of 15 years along with the two kids (who knows if the writer in question was even interested)? With the high altitude of the conference, and the inherent giddy lightheadedness, I thought I was at a crossroad. Thank God for my sensible roommate, who explained that through out her fifteen years married life she had crushes. I had never heard of such a thing. It was a crush, and my mental obsession would wear itself out.
Enjoy it, LW, enjoy it. How often all of us seek our aperitif, our appetite whetter, for life.
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Wow
[Read the article: Should I take my husband's name?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]What a profound response. As I read the letter I thought to myself, enough already! But thank you for articulating so much.
Years ago, when my daughter was very young she wept because on the plane tickets my name was different from hers, her brother's, and her dad's. She wanted people to know we were together. It was bittersweet, and I'm sorry I didn't have this response to draw from. Chapeau.
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Yes, race has faded away
[Read the article: Is race dying? ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]All you have to do is watch tv. Lots of successful black people. No Mexicans, except for those who are heavily accented, or really hot!
So, that must mean there's no more problems. Right? Right?
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Stop talking about it
[Read the article: Go away, can't you see I'm writing?!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Really. Put the energy you've had discussing your ideas and writing aspirations with others into your writing. (How else did they know what you are attempting?) And please, please, please, read Carolyn See's Making a Literary Life.
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Writing full time
[Read the article: Now that I've got my master's in writing ... I'm not writing!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The full time writers of my group are non fiction writers-- writing about business, medical stuff, water conservation. One of them does that to pay the bills in order to write his fiction and screenplays. The rest of us write as much as we can, and pay our bills with other jobs. Many, many successful literary authors that I know earn their living with the college classes and lectures that they give.
I think the goal the LW has set is actually quite overwhelming.
Break it into small, achievable steps. Like, maybe, a topic. (A number of topics) then tackle the one that connects most meaningfully. Life and writing are so different from the classes we excelled at. There was always a syllabus attached, and always
a guide as to how to get the A. Good luck, and, really, have fun, or else what is the point?
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Holy smoke
[Read the article: Would you please get out of my swimming pool!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Why is everyone so fearful of being thought a bitch?
Lady, it's your house and it's your rules. Offending family member, my husband means well, and I love him and you dearly. But this isn't working out. Thanks so much for understanding, I really appreciate it.
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creation and evolution
[Read the article: The atheist and the creationist: Can't they just get along?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The most intolerant people I know are fundamental atheists.
That includes my beloved husband, who honors reason and objectivity above all else, but becomes emotionally disturbed by
other people's belief systems. I think we, all of us, get angry and disappointed when the world doesn't conform to our personal beliefs. But friends are a package deal; remember and honor the qualities you loved and connected with.