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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
  • WRITING & READING
  • MY ROCKY SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
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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

My First Royalty Check Has Arrived — How Cool Is That?

Barbara Falconer Newhall's book "Wrestling with God" is on display on a counter in A Great Good Place for Books bookstore in Oakland California. Photo by Barbara Newha

Hey! Hey! My very first royalty check has arrived. It’s not big bucks, but it’s real. 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!

watering-the-Christmas-tree

Widowed: Or, How to Wrestle a Christmas Tree Into Its Stand Without Calling the Neighbors for Help

Teenaged boy in tux ready for prom. Photo by BF Newhall

How Selective Service Made a Man of My Son — Without Even Trying

Barbara Falconer Newhall in purple knit gown wearing Swarovsky fit silver shade earrings. Photo by BF Newhall

The Mother-of-the-Groom Diaries — Am I Too Old for Splashy Earrings?

jon-newhall-1997

Widowed: Yes, It Does Get Easier, Sad to Say

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