Author
My Favorite Words
Tabula Rasa - in pared down layman’s terms, this means to wipe clean the slate. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, it means: “1.) the mind in its hypothetical primary blank or empty state before receiving outside impressions or 2.) something existing in its original pristine state.”
A Story in Every Picture...
When I look at a picture, a story comes to my mind, sometimes from a memory. Sometimes I create a new story or an idea for one. I see a story in every picture and here is where I will share it with you.
An Early Morning Walk in the Park (Fiction-idea for a short story)
Imagine you are alone, walking through the park on a beautiful semi-foggy autumn morning. You spot a woman in the distance walking your way. No one else is in sight. She is searching the surroundings—glancing from side to side. As she nears, you realize she has spotted you and her pace picks up. She hurries toward you. The closer she gets, you notice her form begins to alter, to break apart as though it’s pixelating. She is now close enough for you to see the panic building in her eyes. The closer she gets, the more transparent she appears and when she is just four feet of you she stretches out her hand and you instinctively reach back. Her fingers are within inches of yours. The words, “Help me,” escape her lips as she totally vanishes and a static crackling fills the air. A slight ozone smell is all that remains.
What do you do…
© Cheryl Alsippi
A Writer's Life
In 2016 while working on my second novel The Witch’s Claw, my husband and I visited Sleepy Hollow in New York state. I was doing research for the book because the character Jannie once lived there with her parents and in the story she and Claire visit them. The town is a wonderfully quaint, historic area and at the time (almost Halloween) there were a good many decorations and festivals going on. With The Legend of Sleepy Hollow in mind, we visited the Old Dutch Church and cemetery and Sunnyside—the home of Washington Irving, the author of that story. There was also an area across the Headless Horseman Bridge where they would reenact the story of the headless horseman. Many of these points turn up in The Witch’s Claw and I’m so glad I got to visit the area.
