by Clifford Mae Henderson | Jan 18, 2019 | fiction, Musings
I am sitting in my dining room, eating a bowl of oatmeal with raisins and apples. It is morning. I am perusing my latest issue of the New Yorker and come across a review (by Jerome Groopman) of Rose George’s book Nine Pints. The first...
by Clifford Mae Henderson | Dec 13, 2016 | Musings, Uncategorized
I once had someone say to me, “If I had a room like that, I could write a novel too.” It wasn’t someone I knew, a friend of a friend, I’m proud to say; I like to think none of my friends would say something so foolish. “Really?” I wanted to say, “you think the room’s...
by Clifford Mae Henderson | Dec 3, 2016 | Musings
I got a big compliment the other day. A friend, I’ll call her Mothra, had just handed back my latest manuscript—working title: Perfect Little Worlds—after marking it up with various punctuation and line edits. I like to think of her work as helping me sniff out what I...
by Clifford Mae Henderson | Oct 9, 2014 | Musings
1.) There are only about eight story lines. It’s what done with them that counts. 2.) Heightening is the art of suspense. 3.) If the characters don’t care about what’s going on, neither will the audience/readers. 4.) Every character, even the tiny ones, need a...