JUST FOR FUN by Deborah Elliott-Upton I’ve been more than distracted lately. My schedule, which is used to being hectic, has slipped past that into frantic. I’ve never been a fan of spring cleaning or taxes, and yet they’re both needing my attention – just as one deadline has backed up into another. And on […]

ADVENTURELAND by Deborah Elliott-Upton “Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with, it is a toy and an amusement. Then it becomes a mistress, then it becomes a master, then it becomes a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster, […]

DARK AND STORMY NIGHTS by Deborah Elliott-Upton “It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents, except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the […]

PROS and CONS by Deborah Elliott-Upton “If ‘pro’ is the opposite of ‘con’ what is the opposite of ‘progress’?” – Paul Harvey I don’t know about you, but I already miss Paul Harvey and the rest of the story. His broadcasts always led us down a path where we thought we knew how the story […]

A LIFE’S STORY by Deborah Elliott-Upton A friend of mine is writing her memoirs, not for publishing consideration, but strictly for her family. I think it’s a great idea. There are people who will do that for you if you don’t feel up to the job and I can provide references for one who does […]

START WHERE IT ALL BEGINS TO FALL APART by Deborah Elliott-Upton Starting the story in the right place isn’t always easy. Usually an idea of a crime hits my conscious like a slap in the face – forcefully, but probably with good reasoning behind the sting. A germ of the idea has probably been simmering […]

LOOKING FOR A HOME by Deborah Elliott-Upton My daughter is house-hunting. Being the dutiful mom, I am accompanying her on rounds with the real estate agent trying to find just the right house to turn into a home for the soon-to-be newlyweds. In the search for what will be the most important expenditure for their […]