About Me

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Lake Arrowhead, California, United States
I live for my family, teaching, reading, and the joy of every new day, and I write to live! I've written both non-fiction, and adult and young adult fiction, and am currently working on a novel set in both California and London. This means I get to travel! Qualifications/Education: M.F.A., Creative Writing, 2009 Goddard College, Vermont. California Single Subject Teaching Credential Program, English, 1996 University of Redlands, Redlands, CA. B.A., English Literature, 1996 California State University, San Bernardino, CA.

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Advice from Virginia Woolf, Writing Group News, and a Zombie Beauty Pageant



 Poetopia from Pininterest

October 2013


"Therefore I would ask you to write all kinds of books, hesitating at no subject no matter how trivial or however vast.  By hook or by crook, I hope that you will possess yourselves of money enough to travel and to idle, to contemplate the future or the past of the world, to dream over books and loiter at street corners and let the line of thought dip deep into the stream."  Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own

We had a great home based meeting last week--the words, wisdom, and wine were flowing; it was our monthly "share" meeting!  Next week, it's back to coffee, frozen yogurt, and hammering away at the old keys.  Meet Tuesday.  Bring edited copies of the shared work from last week.

Alicia is taking a month off.  Rumour has it there's a big shindig going on in Redlands, CA around Halloween that she spends a lot of time working on this time of year.  Something about a zombie beauty pageant? Missing our tiny dancer already!

I just finished reading Ken's manuscript.  Bravo, Ken.  I'm looking forward to your first book signing event!

Write on, and on, and on!









Posted by Rachel Lorene "Lori" Johnstone Pohlman at 1:51 PM

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Bodies of Smoke

From Bodies of Smoke

"The day was suddenly quieter, or maybe it just seemed to hush as Jan witnessed the spectacle of ashes falling all around him, slowly turmbling out of the sky, carried on the soft breeze from some unknown fire. He looked toward the forest, thinking of a wildfire, but the sky in that direction was serenely blue. The wind was blowing from the other direction, anyway. It was coming from town. Oswiecim. There was a railroad station there, and a camp.

Jan continued to stand, face upturned, wondering what was happening. What new calamity might this foretell? Maybe the whole world was going to light itself on fire. Maybe it already had.

Ashes continued to float down on his face, his head, his shoulders, cradling themselves in his outstretched hands. Finally, ashes covered all of the roses."


Bodies of Smoke

copyright protected, R L Johnstone-Pohlman, March 14, 2010

What Are You Reading? The Two-Minute Book Review Series

  • Wallace, David Foster. A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again.
  • Foer, Jonathan Safran. Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.
  • Irving, John. A Widow for One Year
  • Didion, Joan. The Year of Magical Thinking.
  • Dunn, Mark. Ella Minnow Pea.
  • Donnelly, Jennifer. A Northern Light.
  • Kingsolver, Barbara. Prodigal Summer. This is one of my favorite novels; it's lush and filled with nature imagery, humorous and thought provoking. Entirely wonderful.
  • Knapp, Caroline. Drinking: A Love Story. For anyone wondering about the alcoholic experience, here's your book. Exceedingly readable and feels absolutely honest.
  • Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye
  • Gaiman, Neil. Neverwhere
  • Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief. As my writer friend says, "This is the book I wish I wrote." A book narrated by Death about a little girl living in Germany during WWII. This book will always live in my library!
  • Selznick, Brian. The Invention of Hugo Cabret. YA Graphic Novel. Some of my teen readers loved it, others found it too simple.
  • Colfer, Eoin Colfer. Airman. This book was voted favorite of the year with my middle school age book club.
  • du Maurier, Daphne. Rebecca
  • Card, Orson Scott. Ender's Game
  • Proulx, Annie. Brokeback Mountain
  • Spinelli, Jerry. Milkweed
  • King, Stephen. On Writing
  • Hamilton, Edith. Mythology
  • Lamott, Anne. Bird by Bird. My favorite book on writing!
  • Gilbert, Elizabeth. Committed.
  • Skibell, Joseph. A Blessing on the Moon. An amazing Holocaust tale..this book stays with me. I want to read it again for the first time!
  • Anderson, M.T. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing
  • Harris, JoAnne. The Girl With No Shadow

Poetry Corner

"August in Waterton, Alberta" by Bill Holm


Above me, wind does its best

to blow leaves off

the aspen tree a month too soon.

No use wind. All you succeed

in doing is making music, the noise

of failure growing beautiful.



"Lincoln by Vachel Lindsey"


Would I might rouse the Lincoln in you all,

That which is gendered in the wilderness

From lonely prairies and God's Tenderness.

Imperial soul, star of a weedy stream,

Born where the ghosts of buffaloes still dream,

Whose spirit hoof-beats storm above his grave,

Above that breast of earth and prairie-fire--

Fire that freed the slave.



Read!

Read!