#writing
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To Make a Long Story Short
I haven’t posted since shortly after my return from Guatemala, and I’m not exactly sure why. Writing has always been therapy for me, but I find it more difficult to do as a leisure activity now since copywriting is what I do for a living. I don’t even want to look at a computer after…
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“It was June, and the world smelled of roses.”
June. The month of my birth. The month of roses and honeysuckle, pearl and alexandrite and moonstone. The transition from spring into summer. It’s been busy, as you might imagine. Lots of things going on around the farm — there is no end of work to be done. Enjoying the new blooms on my rose…
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6 More Weeks
According to the Buckeye Chuck and Punxsutawney Phil, we have 6 more weeks of winter. If we’re talking about the actual season of winter, of course that’s true. If we’re talking about winter weather, I don’t rely on a groundhog for that information. It’s cold today, and that’s all that matters to me right now.…
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I’m so sorry, little fox
After recent heavy rain and flooding, I took Blitz out for a walk in the yard this morning while everything was still frozen. As we crossed the bridge over our creek, I saw it. A dead fox in our yard. I was not prepared for that. Since we moved here, I’ve seen my share of…
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A Hankering for Pancakes
It’s Throwback Thursday, so I am going to share this little travel narrative I wrote in October 2005 after a day trip to the quaint village of Thorn in The Netherlands. And by pancakes, I mean pannenkoek — a Dutch pancake that is about the size of a dinner plate and just a bit thicker…
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Planting the seed (or, why I chose to be my own boss)
I’ve been a freelance writer and editor off and on since 2005. It happened by accident. We were living in Germany at the time, and I had a travel blog to keep friends and family updated on our adventures around Europe. Because of that travel blog, I was approached to write some travel guides for…
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On writing, editing, and gardening
I was prepping my veggie bed the other day, getting ready to plant (lettuces and spinach very soon). And I was thinking about how gardening is a fitting endeavor for a writer/editor. Why? Well, a brand new garden is like a blank page. The possibilities are endless. If you’re meticulous as both a writer and…
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A Sixth Grade Prediction
“Remember her name. It will be on books someday.” This is what my sixth grade Language Arts teacher, Mrs. George, said to a gymnasium full of parents as she was announcing my academic award. I have never forgotten it. (Of course, I no longer go by my maiden name, which is quite a bit more…
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In Defense of English Majors
I keep thinking I need to update, but then I sit for a long time, staring at a blank page. Between work, grad school, and general adult responsibilities, I’m in a permanent state of exhaustion. That makes it rather hard to be creative when I sit down to write, but here goes. Twenty plus years…
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Evolution
I’ve been keeping some form of a journal or diary since elementary school. It all started with a little diary that locked with a key – perfect for writing third grade secrets. As I got older, I would use spiral-bound notebooks or the nice journals you buy at Barnes & Noble. (I often got them…
Karyn Johnson 