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For Writers

Today’s Fabulous Visiting Writer Is…

P. Jo Anne Burgh! Jo Anne, a long-time Connecticut resident, lives with four cats in Glastonbury. By day, she’s a lawyer; by night (and on weekends, and in any other spare moments she can find), she writes novels, short stories, blog posts, and biographies for adoptable shelter cats. Jo Anne is also the owner of

Compliment / Complement–“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”  Mark Twain

Check this category every week for a new set of ceaselessly confused, misused or misspelled words to master. Break the cycle of language abuse!  Many student writers I know use these words interchangeably and are shocked to learn that there is any difference whatsoever between them. Then they get mad that there is yet one

Lose / Loose–“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”  Mark Twain

Check this category every week for a new set of ceaselessly confused, misused or misspelled words to master. Break the cycle of language abuse! Lose /Loose This is a tough one. Writers get this wrong all the time. One o or two? Let’s decide once and for all. To lose means to not win. The

Etudes–Claude Debussy: Clair de Lune

For what event (moment, mood, etc.) in your life would this rendition of Debussy’s Clair de Lune be the perfect music? Describe the time, what was happening and why this music suits it. Or, if it hasn’t happened yet, what would you like it to be? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c977QdbTImU&t=21s Steinway & Sons @steinway steinway.com

Etudes–Claude Debussy: Classics for Elephants

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1qQOGCyRbYu0026t=13s I can’t resist including Paul Barton’s version of Debussy’s Clair de Lune for elephants. Barton plays classical music for rescued elephants at a reserve in Thailand. Click the YouTube link above. Watch and react. How are you like that elephant? OR Write a monologue from the elephant’s point of view. ******************************************************** Can’t get enough

Etudes–Richard Wagner: The Ride of the Valkyries (The Main Event)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQM97_iNXhku0026t=178s Valkyries are female figures in Norse mythology that usher dead heroes from the battlefield to Valhalla. Wagner gives these beings a rousing number in the third act of the opera Dië Walküre (The Valkyries), which is itself the second of four installments of the epic opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. Yes. Huge. Wagner