T.A. Munroe

Well. Here I am, the recalcitrant blogger. It’s been almost two years since I posted. You know how it is. Maybe. And in case you’re wondering, the kidney recipient and donor from the previous post are both doing well and thriving. In the meantime, hubster and I pulled up stakes in Arizona and replanted them back in Pennsylvania to be close to ur kids again since after 16 years, they had shown…

A kidney to taking a cross-country trip today!

2020 was a bad year for many people. But lots of us can name some silver linings that came from the isolation, depression, and all that bad stuff. One for me was joining the Zoom write-ins started by the writing association I belong to, WFWA or the Women’s Fiction Writers Association. We gather on Zoom to write, talk about writing and publishing, and make friends. Some of the WFWA Write-Inmates…

If you missed me (as if) sorry. I'm back now.

A long while. Two and a half years to be almost exact. It’s not like I haven’t been doing anything. Writing. Becoming famous for writing sex scenes in my Zoom writing group (a life and sanity saver and a silver lining in the pandemic.) I’ve been following the news, raging at the news, sighing and crying at the news. Avoiding humanity (always a favorite activity.) Binge-watching The Blacklist,…

To Writers Who Have Yet To Write

Lately, several people have told me they want to write. They want to take a class or something before they can actually begin. Bless their hearts.

“Don’t wait!” is my advice. I put off writing for decades because I thought you HAVE to outline before you write. Sure, if that floats your boat, go ahead. Outline.

When I threw that idea away is when I began to write.

Classes are great.…

A post or two ago, I told you I had interviewed for Word, a podcast on KJZZ, an NPR affiliate in Phoenix.

The link is just below. I come in at about 17:30. (Does anyone else dislike the sound of their own voice?) But the segment before it is great, too, an interview with the woman who is Municipal Liaison for the Phoenix AZ NaNoWriMo region. Following, the host talks with people at the Local…

This is my 12th year participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). Crazies like myself set the goal of writing 50,000 words in one month. Not just any 50,000 words, but arranged in a novel or a series of short stories. Or whatever. I figured in all I have 10 separate manuscripts. Three have been published by me. Two are in advanced revision stages. I know several will not see the…

Reading and Writing Notes

The first annual Women’s Fiction Day is this Saturday, June 8th! Women’s fiction is about the emotional journey of the protagonist, how she grows and changes throughout the story. It can include elements or romance, suspense, paranormal, sci-fi, fantasy, and more as long as the emotional journey is the reason for the story.

Today I finished We Hope for Better Thingsby Rachel Bartels, a fellow…

y daughter's latest adventure: Meet Temple University Press's new acquiring editor, Sarah Munroe!

A little over 4 years ago, I published a post here, “Congratulations, Mrs. Munroe, It’s a Poet.” It featured some poems by my daughter Sarah that she had published on Tumbler. During that time, Sarah has acquired her MFA in Creative Writing from West Virginia University. A few months ago, she became an acquisitions editor and Temple University Press in Philadelphia.

Here’s a link to the…

I is for Ice.

I is for ICE. The frozen water thing, not the immigration enforcement squad.

I take ice for granted. I’ve always had ice in my life. I especially enjoy cold drinks that go well with ice. Pepsi. Ice Coffee. Sweet tea. Chocolate milk. I use it on bruises and bumps and headaches. Yay for ice!

This icy delight is a Ginny Weasely at Four Peaks Brewing Company in Tempe, AZ.

I…

  H is for Heat

I live in the Valley of the Sun–aka Phoenix, Arizona. Heat is our first middle name. Our second middle name is Wonderful Winters.

Today was our second day in the high 90s. Mother Nature blew by the low 90s and gave us 97 degrees. A friendly reminder of what is ahead for us. Sweat and high electric bills.

Summer. Triple digits. Triple yuck.

At least I don’t have to shovel heat. I…

    Better late than never.

G is for Gas.

This will be short and sweet.

For some reason, there is a bit of a gas (as in gasoline, petrol) shortage around here, Phoenix, AZ. So of course, that drives up the prices. Like 60 cents in a month. Yeah.

But that reminds me of inflated produce prices, too. I blame that on Trump’s threat to close the border with Mexico, even though it didn’t get closed.…

Yesterday was my birthday so I didn’t submit my F word so I’m doing it today. Actually, The F Word was a word I was contemplating discussing for this letter, but…

F is for follow-through, which is not my strong suit. I was tempted to not do this anymore, to cease and desist this nonsense. But I decided to persist so I am writing this short post to declare my commitment to this self-imposed…

Because E is for Eletelephony, one of my favorite poems as a kid and an adult.

The photo is a page from a Childcraft book circa 1957. You’ll notice the illustration is by Walt Disney. Way before the Disney mega-entity is what is today.

Once there was an elelphant

Who tried to use the telelphant–

No! No! I mean an elelphone

Who tried to use the telephone–

(Dear me! I am not certain quite

Tha…

Dates-the kind you go out on

The kind you go on with a special someone. Not the fruit. 

The only other D word I considered was dogs and I’ve only had 2 of them and I just did cats.

The first date my husband and I went on was to a Lebanese restaurant in Waterville, Maine. It was across the street from his apartment. It was pretty popular but I always thought it was a bit out of place in Maine, but what did I know? I…

Cats I Have Known

A bunch of cats have passed through my life!

Critter. This orange tabby came strutting across the busy road in front of our house. His whiskers had been cut off and he was young semi-feral. He pooped in my dad’s car, in his work hat no less. The second time he didn’t have the good sense to leave the car and rode along with my dad to work. Dad heaved him over the fence into the lumber yard…

B is for Baseball in which I share a little about a lifelong interest.

Welcome back to mt 2019 a to Z Blog challenge, day 2. Obviously.

Other possible B topics for today included birthday (mine is on Saturday!) bullsh!t, babies, beds, bathtubs and binge watching. I’m going with baseball. Obviously.

Note: If my posts are funky-looking, blame WordPress. They haven’t been allowing me to see previews lately. And I’m still figuring out this new block editor.

I…

Arizona. An incomplete list of what I've come to appreciate about my adopted state.

Welcome to day 1 of my Blogging A-Z 2019 event. This is the first year for me. Many posts will be short because I have other things to do. As, my Dear Readers, do you.

Among possible topics beginning with A, I considered: assholes (the jerky person, not the anatomical one), anger, angels, aardvarks,  and April (my birthday month!). I decided to go with Arizona, my state of residence to show off…