As I walked down a hall at the retirement center the other day, a man tapped me on the shoulder. Turning around, I saw his expression was friendly though it bore the look of surprise. “Say, I finished your book, Gothic Spring last night. Ya know? It was pretty good.”   That said,

In his article, “Confessions of a Catholic Novelist,” author William Giraldi, believes one cannot be a Catholic and a good novelist simultaneously. “Catholics already have the truth, whereas novelists write novels in part because they don’t.”   (New Republic, July/August,

The curtain is down on Woman on the Scarlet Beast and now, after a few months of reflection, I wish to share my thoughts on the experience in the hope it may be of use to some future playwright. Woman on the Scarlet Beast is about the desire for redemption through love.  It revolves

The actors are in place, the stage is set and the curtain on my play, Woman on the Scarlet Beast is about to open.  Whether it will be treated kindly by the public or die in its first performance is something I am unable to predict.  But whether I succeed or fail, I will have achiev

During the interval between casting “Woman on the Scarlet Beast” and rehearsals, I moved to a retirement center. Much of the time, I spent unpacking boxes and attempting to restore normalcy to a life I had deliberately uprooted.  Among my goals was to revive friendships that had

I knew the director I was about to meet hadn’t been born when I first sat down to write my play.  Young enough to be my granddaughter, the giddy days of the struggle for the Equal Rights Amendment was a footnote in her history book.  That baby boomers were once flower children mig

I picked up my phone today on the first ring.  Bob Bidleman’s son was calling and I doubted it meant good news.  Bob was in his mid 80’s, in frail health and living in a facility in southern California. I’d last contacted him a few months earlier to give him the news that Woma

My last entry concerning my play, Woman on the Scarlet Beast  (Blog 5/15/14)  ended with my description of how I leapt from my chair when the Executive Director of Post5 Theatre invited me to meet  him.  Arriving at the designated location, I was greeted by a tall, golden-haired y

My last blog about Woman on the Scarlet Beast dealt with the endless rejections a writer must face. (4/8/14)   In the case of my play, it would be more accurate to say it was not so much rejected as ignored. I can understand cronyism. In the tightly knit world of theater, an unknown

2013 has been a banner year for many of my artistic Facebook friends. Betty Dravis is writing a script for the film, 6 Packs of Blood. Katie Kelly has snagged a big agent for her upcoming book; Madeline Roosevelt has received an award for her work as a make-up artist. Yoly Fivas has c