WHAT WOMEN WANT by Melodie Johnson Howe This will be a brief column because I’ve been fighting the flu or the flu has been fighting me. We are at a draw right now. For the last few of days I‘ve been stuck in TV land. If Freud were alive today and could ask his famous […]

WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT MY WRITING WHILE WRITING by Melodie Johnson Howe Writing short introductions to each of my Diana Poole stories for the book that is now in production, I learned a few things about myself as a writer. 1. I am a very female-centric writer. I’m using the word female instead of woman […]

NOTES TO MYSELF by Melodie Johnson Howe My husband does must of the grocery shopping. He hunts. I cook. This weekend he was playing tennis and asked if I could do it this time. Now I’ve been on a writing binge and haven’t been out of the house for a while so I’m experiencing MWD. […]

HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD by Melodie Johnson Howe I am often asked if being an actress has informed my writing, especially with the Diana Poole series. The answer is yes, but not in the way one may think. Here is an example. A PR man for Universal Studios (I have long forgotten his name so I’ll […]

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH by Melodie Johnson Howe An editor responded to a section of a well-known author’s work by writing in the margin, “Less is More.” The author (alas, I cannot remember his name at the moment) wrote back to her and said, “Less is Less. More is More. And Enough is Enough.” His words […]

AN EMPTY MIND IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE by Melodie Johnson Howe James’ very funny column reminded me of an incident that happened years ago. I was eighteen and in acting class. A girl my age, also blonde, sat alone on the stage, a platform painted black, under a single spotlight. Jeff Corey, the […]

BABBLE BOOKS by Melodie Johnson Howe In the Los Angles Times Business section, December 29, 2010, was an article titled “The Book as Collaboration.” The subtitle was: “Bob Stein foresees the evolution of reading from solitary pursuit into communal activity.” The subtitle is misleading. Mr. Stein is not talking about book clubs, but about what […]