OK, I’m trying this again. In my previous life as a newspaper reporter/columnist, I birthed several blogs, only to have them inevitably perish from disuse — just like I always forget to water house plants until it’s too late.
This time around, I have a novel (“The Kudzu Kid”) coming out in October, several other books behind that, and a soon-to-be launched writing coach business. But no one will ever know about any of these things unless I somehow get the word out. So it behooves me to keep this blog rolling along.
The novel is about a weekly newspaper in Southside Virginia, a reflection of my long-held gratitude towards weeklies (one of which served as my journalism school on the fly). Therefore, I have created a “Weekly Warriors” page on this blog to perhaps spark some comments about the triumphs and tribulations of any low-paid saint who struggles to put out a newspaper in relative obscurity.
I also decided to reprint some old newspaper columns in this space, because I think you might enjoy them. Those who know me know that this is not my ego speaking — I always considered myself nothing more than a stenographer who invited good stories into my head and translated them for the general population. A good story is a good story, even after many years, and I think some of these might be worth recycling because they are still of general interest.
I also have a Facebook page under The Writers’ Bridge. Check it out. And please leave comments, good or not so good. I’ll read and comment on all of them.
Write On 
I’m a veteran of the weekly newspaper grind and have more than my share of stories to tell. Being paid $5 a meeting and 5 cents an inch for covering selectmen’s meetings and planning boards, town meetings and sewer hearings was grueling work, when those meetings went to 11 p.m. or longer and I had to be up at the crack of dawn to get my two girls off to school. But there was that heady excitement when I saw my first by-line and my words in print. The thrill I got in 1978 somehow never wore off and I still love to see it now 36 years later. That’s more than half my life at this point that I’ve spent writing for newspapers. Dad asked me was it worth it — all that work for such pitifully low pay — way back at the beginning, when he saw me typing up a meeting story on my old electric typewriter that I’d used in college. I said “yes” then and I’d say it now, too. I only wish Dad had lived to see the myriad stories I’ve written, the fascinating people I’ve met and the keen difference my writing has made in people’s lives. He’d agree that it was worth it, too…and chuckle at the pictures I have of me with Julia Child, Valerie Harper, Dame Edna and many more….it was worth it, Dad, and I’ve loved every minute.
LikeLike