I am a child of the 1970s who grew up in a blue collar section of a New Jersey suburb. I clearly recall the first time I realized that the world saw me as different, as less than, because of the color of my skin. I remember how that one comment snatched me viciously out…
Author: Audra Russell
The Flavor of Fall
There’s something inspiring about the arrival of fall. There’s irony in the beauty of it all. The trees push out fall foliage filled with vibrant yellows, burnt oranges, blazing reds, and warm browns as they bid us adieu until spring. You can hear the scraping of fallen leaves as the wind pushes them along the…
Under the Influence
As a writer I’m always in tune to what is going on around me. That can be a good thing and a bad thing. Right now, it’s a bad thing. The racial climate of this country is the worst it’s ever been, and its forcing its way into my writing uninvited. I don’t like that….
We All Need Grace
It’s been a month since my last post. I have been busy writing short stories and submitting them to different journals and e-magazines. I’ve been writing my novel, and I finished one writing class on plot and have begun another on creating characters. And I’ve been reading. A LOT. So, though my blog here…
Write On!
That scene is from my all-time favorite movie You’ve Got Mail. And this is just what I feel like right now. I’ve been writing a short story every week and sending it out to be considered for publication. Between that, the creative writing class I’m taking, and the novel I am also working on, my…
The Drunken Bull
You may remember me telling you that I am participating in a short story challenge at 12shortstories.com. Well, here is the story I just submitted for August. It may or may not have been an actual event in my life. 😉 *** I made it a point to have lunch at The Drunken Bull that…
The Learning Never Ends
I have two undergraduate degrees in journalism. I tell you that to say I never thought I would see myself enrolling in another writing class. But last week I began a five-course creative writing series to learn the mechanics of writing stories and novels and hone my skills in those areas. Coursera is a…
An Item On My Bucket List
One of my favorite authors is Nora Roberts. She’s from Maryland . Sixteen years ago, when I was pregnant with my daughter, I wrote to her. A few weeks later I got a reply complete with a bookmark, a few other little keepsakes, and a short, hand-written note congratulating me on my pregnancy. I never…
The long and short of it….
Today I took another step toward my goal of becoming a published author: I submitted a short story to The Saturday Evening Post to be considered for their print edition. I never pictured myself writing short stories. My goal is to write novels. In fact I am busy working on one while I write these short…
The Busyness of Birds
I think birds are fascinating little creatures. There are a lot of them in my backyard because my neighbor has lots of birdhouses and bird feeders. When I sit out there to let my chickens forage, I listen to those birds and watch them. They are mostly busy finding little scraps of dead grass, plastic,…