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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.

‘Read Me a Story, Mommy, But Not That One You Wrote’ (Or,The Nicest Thing My Husband Ever Said to Me)

December 28, 2012 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

1986 home office with computer monitors, toddler and sleeping cat. Photo by BF Newhall.

To save money, management had cut my hours back to one day a week. I did what every self-respecting writer does when she’s ticked off at the world. I sat down at the keyboard – and wrote. Read more.

Walk 1000 Miles Around Lake Michigan? She Did It — Now I Don’t Have To

October 26, 2012 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Loreen hikes alongside Lake Michigan snow drifts. Niewenhuis photo

Walk around Lake Michigan . . . the whole thing. I’d start in late spring and finish up in the fall. And when I was done, I’d write a book about it. Lucky for me, Loreen Niewenhuis beat me to it.

Ceramics Envy at the Berkeley Art Center — I Want to Get My Hands into that Earthy, Messy, Squishy Clay

October 2, 2012 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Nancy Selvin's Large Pot with Green Base 2012. Photo by BF Newhall

 

I’m a writer, but whenever I visit my friend Nancy Selvin’s ceramics studio, I wonder whether I’d rather be working with something more tangible than words and ideas — like clay.

The Writing Room: Heather Donahue and Me – How I Got Hooked on a Pothead

September 16, 2012 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Heather Donahue's book jacket Grow Girl: How My LIfe After "The Blair Witch Project Went to Pot"

I bought Heather Donahue’s book about marijuana farming, "Grow Girl," because she’s a writer friend of a writer friend of mine. This is what happened.

Purple Bearded Irises — Close Up and (Very) Personal

May 8, 2012 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

[caption id="attachment_28388" align="aligncenter" width="500"]Irises -- An iris blossom close up. Purple. Photo by Barbara Newhall An iris blossom close up. Purple. Photo by Barbara Newhall[/caption]

There’s a heck of a lot of erotica going on inside an iris blossom. Stamen. Pistel. Haft. Claws. And, of course, those fuzzy, caterpillar-like beards. Read more.

The Writing Room: My Flesh Is Weary — Too Much Book-Writing, Not Enough Yoga

May 6, 2012 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

The cluttered desk and computer of a busy writer. Photo by BF Newhall.

Can you guess who wrote this? “Of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.” Hint: The writer’s been dead for at least two millenniums. Read more.

Ahead of the Curve on a Hot New Trend — Storytelling

March 26, 2012 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Jeff Greenwald introducing his storytellers at Book Passage performance last Friday. Photo by Jon Newhall.

Check out this article in Monday’s New York Times on the storytelling classes being offered all around the Big Apple. Looks like Jeff Greenwald’s storytellers are ahead of the cultural curve. Read more.

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ON THE FUNNY SIDE

Shanghai Chic — It’s All About the Shoes in This Skyscraping Town of 24 Million

By Barbara Falconer Newhall Young people are flocking to swashbuckling, get-rich-quick Shanghai. Come back soon to see what they’re wearing on their feet. I’m just back from a two-week blitz tour of China and am off to Austin for a Religion Newswriters Association conference tomorrow. There will be plenty to share when I get back. […]

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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!

Windmills against the sky, Altamont Pass, CA. Photo by BF Newhall

A Case of the Human Condition: Build a Wind Farm — Wreck Lake Michigan

The bride was beautiful. A crystal headpiece set off Christina Newhall's short dark hair on her wedding day in May. Photo by Barbara Newhall

They Did It — They Got Married (And the Bride Was Beautiful)

two pinkish white star magnolia blossoms. photo by BF Newhall

Writing the Personal Essay — Forget the Good, Go for the Bad and the Ugly

grace-kleis-barbara-falconer-newhall

Sexy at Any Age — Tips From My 98-Year-Old Aunt Grace

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