Lori Duff Writes
“If you could have any superpower, what would it be?” Of course, I’m not going to get a superpower any time soon, but it’s an interesting question to contemplate. My first thought when presented with this question was that of all the superpowers held by all the superheroes I’ve witnessed, the thing I’d like the…
Bullspotting: Finding Facts in the Age of Misinformation “Bullspotting” by Loren Collins is a book that attempts to hold a lens of hard, cold logic to an entirely illogical world in order to sift through a sea of emotionally persuasive information that overwhelms us. It is a book about critical thinking in a world in…
The biggest problem with cleaning your house beyond a swipe with a paper towel is that you realize the level of filth you’ve been living in. There was a stain on my carpet. The stain was annoying me because it was large enough to be seen from Mars. I found some carpet cleaner and an…
One of the best parts about being a part of the Erma Nation, that is, being a part of the fabulous group of women (and the handful of brave, brave men) that descend upon Dayton, Ohio every two years is having the opportunity to meet fantastically talented, funny women who write books. My friend Stacey…
If you’ve been watching the news lately, or even been trying to avoid it, or occasionally taking a gander at Facebook or Twitter or your social media of choice, or at the very least been forced to overhear the conversation being held by the people in the booth next to you at Waffle House, you…
I have absolutely no idea how I birthed a girl who is so cool that, while she might have asked me what the homework was or to borrow a pencil in high school, she would never have given me ten seconds worth of thought outside of school. My daughter is in a garage band, for…
Naked, Drunk, and Writing: Shed Your Inhibitions and Craft a Compelling Memoir or Personal Essay Adair Lara’s “Naked, Drunk, and Writing” has become my go-to guide for the technical matters of writing. It has nothing to do with being naked or drunk, that’s just a title to get your attention. I do a lot of…
It had to be 1982, which would have made me 12, when my parents went off, perfumed, cologned, and dressed up, to their 20th high school reunion. They came back later that evening in a gossipy post-mortem, all a-twtitter that some of their classmates had become grandparents. The ones who had kids right out of…
I went home again. I got off the plane, and the smell hit me in the face with the force of a Mike Tyson punch. There was garlic there in large measure, and jet fuel – sure, it was an airport. There was an overlay of stale B.O. and car exhaust, and a hint of…
Do you prefer physical pleasure or mental pleasure? Being in possession of a human-type body like I am, there is some routine maintenance that needs to be done. Most of that maintenance is not particularly pleasant. It can be invasive, uncomfortable, or downright painful. Yet I persist, partly out of a desire to survive with…