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Barbara Falconer Newhall

Veteran journalist Barbara Falconer Newhall riffs on life as she knows it.

  • A CASE OF THE HUMAN CONDITION
  • MY EVER-CHANGING FAMILY
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The Writing Room

I’m a writer who loves to talk about writing, so if you’re a writer or an aspiring writer I hope you'll stop by now and then and keep me company . . . You’ll find writing tips here as well as my thoughts on the writing life. Watch out, though. The Grammar Geek will be putting in her two cents from time to time.

The Writing Room: Write About My Aging Mother? I Don’t Think So . . .

June 5, 2010 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Ten reasons why I’m finding it impossible to write about my 92-year-old mother, even though she’s all I can think about right now . . . .

Why I Can’t Write My Memoir — Not the Part About My Mom Anyway

May 4, 2010 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Leg cast for a woman, 92, with broken hip. Photo by BF Newhall

Driving home the other day from just one of countless visits to my mom at the hospital, I had to ask myself , why aren’t I writing about her? Read more.

The Trouble With Daffodils — and My Writing

April 11, 2010 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Solo yellow and white daffodil. Photo by BF Newhall

The trouble with daffodils is they have no subtext. They are all cheer and sparkle and optimism. They are avatars of perky. They get on my nerves. Read more.

The Writing Room: My Idea of a Good Time — A Week in the Mountains with a Bunch of Other Writers

February 19, 2010 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

I’ve attended the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley summer conference three different times and loved every moment. It’s a great chance to meet writers, editors, agents — and work on your writing.

San Francisco’s George Leonard and the Tao of Writing

February 6, 2010 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

George Leonard, San Francisco Bay Area author and counterculture guru. LOOK magazine writer. YouTube photo.

George Leonard, one of the founders of the human potential movement, and I both worked at Look magazine during the 1960s. We knew each other — that is to say, I knew who he was. Read more.

The Writing Room: Carol Edgarian’s Letter to a Young Writer

January 18, 2010 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Whether you’re a brand-new writer or writer of many years, be sure to check out Carol Edgarian’s letter to a young college graduate who wants to write but doesn’t know where to start.

The Writing Room: Different From, Different Than – Which Is It?

January 16, 2010 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

[caption id="attachment_7493" align="aligncenter" width="500"]books on shelf by john gardener, sands hall, strunk and white, noah lukeman, robert mckee, theodore m bernstein, stephen koch, susan shaughnessy. Photo by Barbara Falconer Newhall Some of my favorite books on the craft of writing. Photo by Barbara Falconer Newhall[/caption]

I was at the gym working on my pecs and abdominals the other day when I spotted a flyer announcing, “Belly fat is different than other fat.” Shouldn’t that be different from? What’s correct? I hadn’t a clue. Read more.

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

At the Hallmark Store — Teary-Eyed in the Sympathy Card Section

condolence cards in a Hallmark Store rack. Photo by Barbara Newhall

I keep a stash of greeting cards in my desk — birthday and anniversary cards to send to sisters-in-law, brothers, nephews and nieces as the dates come up. But that’s not what I needed on a recent afternoon. I needed sympathy cards. Two of them. Read more.

MORE "ON THE FUNNY SIDE"

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TO MY READERS

Please feel free to share links to my posts with one and all and to quote briefly from them in your own writing, remembering, of course, to attribute the quote to me and to provide a link back to this site.

My Oakland Tribune columns, btw, are reprinted by permission of the Trib. With the exception of review copies of books, I do not accept ads or freebies of any kind. Click on the "Contact" button if you have questions. Enjoy!

 

DON’T MISS!

Are my ancestral ghosts haunting this Halloween house in Red Wing MN? Photo by Barbara Newhall

My Ancestral Ghosts — Are They Haunting This Halloween House in Minnesota?

NASA-satellite-michigan

Is My Writing Too Nice?

Elderly woman with mono. Author and blogger Barbara Falconer Newhall succumbs to mono and curls up with an alpaca blanket for comfort. Photo by Jon Newhall

Mono — It’s Never Too Late to Come Down With the Cool Kids’ Kissing Disease

book jacket "Love Times Three" Darger family

Book Openers: Is Polygamy Normal?

MORE DON'T MISS!

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