A Mother

Mothers who care
Want things for their children
They didn't have.
A good education,
Or piano, guitar or dancing lessons,
Maybe a course in art.

They may also want
To share parental love
Missing in their own lives.

With God as the center
Such love can be shared
And reach others by extension.

MSP - 5/2/12

CORRECTION: My play MURDER, MOST SOUTHERN, is going to be held MAY 26, 2012 at the Mobile Carnival Museum at 7 p.m. Please see the mobilemysterydinnertheater.com website for more details.

Thanks,
MSP

Time Management

Like everything else, writing takes time. Authors have busy lives and obligations that must be fulfilled, so they often put off sitting down and putting thoughts on paper. Sometimes they feel that they must obligate themselves to hours at a keyboard to be productive, but that isn't so.

When my six children were young, I learned that you can use small blocks of time efficiently. That habit became very helpful. Many times, I have a thought that I jot down and later develop into a scene. Or I may have fifteen minutes to write one. Once I get the words on paper, I can polish up the writing when I have more time.

We can do more in a few minutes than we think. For example, the other morning before leaving for work, I had about ten minutes. Instead of telling myself that wasn't time enough to do anything, I watered my plants. One more thing not to get in the way of writing later in the day.

Everybody gets twenty-four hours a day; we also get to choose how we use it. Whether that includes wasting it or using it efficiently is totally up to us.

Happy Writing.

Play - MURDER, MOST SOUTHERN, to be produced

April 16, 2012

I was excited to receive an email yesterday saying that a play I wrote several years ago is going to be produced.

Entitled, MURDER, MOST SOUTHERN, it will be presented at the Mobile Mystery Dinner Theater on MAY 26, 2012, at Mobile's Carnival Museum at 7 p.m.

The website is www.mobilemysterydinners.com.

These plays are most entertaining and the dinners are superb. Space is limited, so it is good to make reservations early.

April's Child

Janie was the third child
But no surprise,
Except that she was born
On April Fool's
With two front teeth.

Her Irish parents,
Who love music,
Spotted talent in
Their daughters
And nourished it.

They bought a used piano and,
At a sacrifice,
Made sure Janie, Alice and Mabel took
Lessons in piano, singing,
And the violin.

Aprils' child played once
With a symphony orchestra.
But her mother didn't agree
To let her pursue
What she called, "An unladylike career."

Janie still sang in church
And played the organ there.
She also played the piano
For her own pleasure
And that of her family.

When the strings of her violin
Became broken,
Oddly enough, they were never replaced.
And her children
Never heard her play that violin.

But they did hear April's child brag
Shortly before she died:
"I still have all my teeth, even the ones
That replaced the two
That I was born with."

Mary S. Palmer
4/1/12

Acceptance

Booksbyauthors - New Orleans by New Orleans - just notified me that my story THE BIG CITY has been accepted for publication. These stories about New Orleans will be published in a book with a launch in late April 2012.

I'm honored and thrilled to be included in this selection by "an independent panel of New Orleans-based authors, publishers, community leaders and journalists."

Blurb from TIME WILL TELL - page 77

Tim O’Hara had been out on the town. Upon reaching the front steps of the wooden porch, he could not remember if there were three or four. As he gingerly put his left foot on the bottom step, he began counting them aloud.

“One, two, free, izzit four, fourah? Sh-hh, can’t wake Mabel. Mabel’ll kill me. Woo—ooe, is she gonna’ be mad.” He scratched the stubble on his chin and with effort raised his two hundred pound bulk over the last step. The pitcher of beer he drank had reached his brain. His vision was blurred and double. Stumbling and falling forward against the front door, he knew the damage was done. Mabel was sure to awaken now.