"Everything Peggy Payne has critiqued for me has gotten published and in venues such as Image, Shenandoah, and The Missouri Review. Her advice on structure was indispensable in revising my memoir, Gods of Noonday." Elaine Neil Orr

Welcome to a conversation about writing, imagination, going for broke as an artist, self-employment, conquering fears, coming up with ideas, making a living, keeping going, and the inner travels and spiritual quest of creative work.

After 35+ years as a freelance writer, 2 novels, 2 nonfiction books, travel writing from 25+ countries, a few seasons as a TV reporter, writing for ad agencies, a winter in India, development of my consulting services for writers, and hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles, I'd like to invite you to take part in some creative shop talk here on this blog.

   Peggy

 

Eleanor Roosevelt

Rarely has anyone so bold emerged from such a timid beginning.

Last night a 2.5 hour documentary on Eleanor Roosevelt aired on my local PBS station. I hadn't planned on watching, though I knew it was scheduled. I told myself I already knew that story.

I happened onto it by accident, though, turning on the TV just as the program was starting. I was fascinated through the very end. And not so much by any new facts I learned, instead by watching this woman transform.

She moved from dreadful shyness to become the most powerful woman in the world. And it didn't happen in a smooth easy sweep. Nor did she transform herself into a different sort of person. Instead, she took herself, as she was, out into the world and kept doing the best she could: for human rights and equality and the easing of poverty. The effects of her work continue. So does her example, made more powerful by the fact that it was never easy.




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