Patricia Harrelson

After the Women’s March to Sacramento, I was elated. The cloud of despair had lifted and stayed gone as I clicked “Like” on Facebook posts picturing my friends and family at Marches all over the country. On Sunday morning, I … Continue reading

In early December, when I saw an announcement on Facebook about buses chartered to take women from Tuolumne County to Sacramento on January 21, 2017, I signed up. I didn’t have well-defined expectations. I simply wanted to be with other … Continue reading

Self-promotion, in particular promoting the book I wrote, is not something I do eagerly, even though I recognize that if I don’t promote my book, it’s not likely to be purchased or read. Consequently, I have a box of 50 … Continue reading

A double fatality accident on Highway 49 made me late to Pam Houston’s evening reading at Columbia College. I was still thinking about the hot red flares on the road and the line of cars diverted to an alternate route … Continue reading

This past weekend I did a work shop at the Tuolumne Writers Retreat on Self-Publishing: Pros & Cons. Rather than lecture on the topic, I wanted to give the writers a chance to think about the topic for themselves.  Since … Continue reading

Five years ago, I had one of those light bulb moments: the idea for a BIG writing project popped into my head and roamed around in there for days until I was sure it was something I wanted to do. … Continue reading

Last night marked the one year anniversary of First Fridays, a monthly public reading event that my writing group hosts.  As always, the evening was a delightful mix of prose & poetry in various styles.  I left with a warm, … Continue reading

Reading work aloud at a public event is often our first opportunity to publish our work. And even when we read something that is already in print, we are very likely presenting the material to a new audience. That was … Continue reading

When I retired from teaching at a community college, I thought I’d try my hand at freelance writing. It’s been interesting to say the least. I can’t imagine having earned my living as a freelance writer in a full-time permanent … Continue reading

The book launch for Between Two Women was one year ago this past weekend. It was a fabulous party and wonderfully validating. And it was my first promotional event! In the year since, I can’t say I’ve been a highly … Continue reading