tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83286411471574113782012-01-29T21:40:00.659-05:00As open to possibility as a meandering creek churning up rocks and leaves . . . and sifting out the Truth. The journey is what matters.Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.comBlogger871100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-80350242444675779502012-01-29T21:40:00.000-05:002012-01-29T21:40:00.672-05:00

Anne Lamott’s Blue Shoe was so much fun to listen to on tape because it was clearly written and well read. I’m a huge Anne Lamott fan, and it was really cool that we watched the documentary about her when we were in Lakeside last weekend. Her story of dealing with single motherhood and alcoholism is one of finding strength within and becoming a good and peaceful person. That’s what Mattie Ryder’

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-15890932935582968252012-01-29T21:24:00.001-05:002012-01-29T21:24:46.189-05:00

Read my review here: http://www.coolcleveland.com/blog/2012/01/book-review-the-strange-death-of-father-candy-by-les-roberts/.

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-79609461362997793762012-01-29T21:17:00.002-05:002012-01-29T21:17:42.919-05:00

On the second day of the Skyline Retreat at River's Edge, I woke to think about when to go to breakfast and the heated therapeutic pool and when to do yoga and take pictures. It’s my nature to know there’s not enough time to do all those things and to make that my concern. I know, though, that morning time is writing time, and that’s what I’m here to do; everything else will fall into place.

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-19860322714406354492012-01-15T21:37:00.000-05:002012-01-15T21:37:00.288-05:00

Don Robertson’s book The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread was fun to read. He has these terribly long run-on sentences that I love. Those run-on sentences are one of the reasons why I need to get a new writing group. They don’t get that they’re all right. I have to admit that I skipped around in this book, read the first 30 pages and skipped to the middle of the book, and I read the last

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-64609833534755263162012-01-04T22:42:00.000-05:002012-01-04T22:42:00.119-05:00

On my last day at Mount St. Benedictine's, I drove east along the lake. Vineyards stretched out to the south of Lake Road as far as I could see, and to the north of me until the Lake stopped their March. It felt bountiful. At Courtyard Winery, owned by 4th generation growers, I had quite a long talk with the winery owner, who knows the Lake Erie Region in Ohio pretty well and has been all over

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-64565604262736530722012-01-01T21:24:00.000-05:002012-01-01T21:24:01.721-05:00

I want a cigarette because Milan smokes then so real in The Cleveland Creep. The book is tight, with no extra words at all. We immediately liked Milan and are drawn into the story from page 1: “A couple came into the bar and sat down next to me. They both had that kind of unremarkable, unmemorable face that you couldn’t identify ten minutes later, and the only reason I noticed them at all was

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-1813299598422143022011-12-18T21:21:00.000-05:002011-12-18T21:21:00.691-05:00

Anna Quindlen is known for her essay columns in The New York Times and Newsweek. Her novel Every Last One is a moving story of the death of a family, the consequences of misjudgment, and the quest for forgiveness. Mary Beth Latham is married to a doctor and has three children, all different, two almost perfect, one not so perfect, but all loved and cared for as well as a mother could care for

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-77547136265679076902011-12-04T21:12:00.000-05:002011-12-04T21:12:00.251-05:00

I admit that I was a bit put off by Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat Pray Love at first. Her meandering writing style was not well crafted and that irritated me, as it does every time I read a New York Times bestseller and discover a writer can’t write. But she was a National Book Award Finalist for her book The Last American Man and received a New York Times notable book designation for Pilgrims, for

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-59954581691658926592011-12-02T22:31:00.000-05:002011-12-02T22:31:00.445-05:00

On my second day at the monastery, I attended morning prayers and listened to the voices of the community of women. Thomas Merton wrote, “Life is not accomplishing some special work but attaining to a degree of consciousness and inner freedom which is beyond all works and attainments. That is my real goal. It implies ‘becoming unknown and as nothing.’” Later he wrote "only save me from myself.

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-66791472425605471472011-11-30T22:30:00.000-05:002011-11-30T22:30:00.455-05:00

Sue Monk Kidd writes in When the Heart Waits that we must wait and not push life ahead so we can allow ourselves to be transformed while God enters into our waiting. We often push forward and strive and we’re not sure why, exactly. For me it’s towards operating a B&B or a retreat house, and embracing a writing career. But what if I embrace where I’m at? What if I do nothing but what I need to do

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-20349477035854754812011-11-27T21:00:00.000-05:002011-11-27T21:00:04.518-05:00

Sarah Willis’s book Some Things That Stay (http://www.sarahwillis.net/) is a beautifully-written book. In her meandering way, Willis received a BFA in Theater from Case Western Resere University, a Certificate in Photography from the Cooper School of Art, and took graduate classes in creative writing at Cleveland State University. Her stories have been published in many magazines (and one was

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-5041921133131699192011-11-25T22:08:00.000-05:002011-11-25T22:08:00.606-05:00

When I was at the Sharing Our Gifts retreat in mid-October, Ann South told me not to write about my sabbatical at Mount St. Benedictine’s Monastery until I returned home again, but I'm a journaler. I wrote:  "Sister Jean, who is about my age has long gray hair partially pulled back and wore Native American-style clothing. She showed me all the artwork along the walls and they are blessed with

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-57781395159473600712011-11-24T22:35:00.000-05:002011-11-24T22:35:00.820-05:00

There was a lot of processing going on at the monastery.  I was working on my novel, but my soul was being transformed by being in a holy place and living differently.  I walked along the path to the Lake and did yoga. The Benedictines find God in everything and encourage seeking, spending time in nature, and doing important work in the world. They honor art and creativity. Coincidentally, I

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-31597768960125954422011-11-22T22:23:00.000-05:002011-11-22T22:23:00.352-05:00

On my second day at Mount St. Benedictines, I enjoying the silence. What work it is to produce a fine novel, but that is what I am intending to do. I'm girded by God prayer, walks, and reading. I’m reading at morning, noon, evening, and night Thomas Merton’s spiritual writings in A Book of Hours. I read “Unnatural, frantic, anxious work, work done under pressure of greed or fear or any other

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-8281489442717809862011-11-22T07:40:00.000-05:002011-11-22T07:40:01.077-05:00

The Savvy Authors asked me to be a guest blogger on their website.  I wrote about Writing From the Heart.  Read it here:  http://www.savvyauthors.com/vb/content.php?1637-Writing-from-the-Heart-by-Claudia-J.-Taller. It was one of those inspired moments, a good piece of writing that I hope you'll enjoy.

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-17777758168889871642011-11-20T20:37:00.000-05:002011-11-20T20:37:00.383-05:00

The answer is that Max Perkins liked it and supported it.  No one else did at first. This Side of Paradise didn’t go over so well with Book Group, even though it was F. Scott (named after his second cousin thrice removed Francis Scott Key) Fitzgerald. My job as facilitator was to help them see the merit of the work even though it is not the finest piece of writing Fitzgerald managed to

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-18759668706929278552011-11-18T07:25:00.001-05:002011-11-18T07:26:24.015-05:00

My friend Lori loves to write, writes well, and when motivated, writes.  Check out her blog at http://onewriterjourney.blogspot.com/.

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-57989363396361795142011-11-13T20:34:00.001-05:002011-11-18T07:02:27.168-05:00

Blogging works best when we respond to other people's posts and follow each other and build up a readership through getting people to see what's being written.  It also requires that we post regularly. Journalists like me have it easy--all I need to do is sift through the hubris of my personal writings and I have words to post. As for other blogs, don't be surprised if you find yours on my list

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-65247424197881682822011-10-01T06:56:00.000-04:002011-10-01T06:56:00.312-04:00

The retreats bring together people who just want to write for a weekend, sequestered away with their laptops, the stories spewing from their heads to their fingertips. We also have people who want to be poets, or are poets, and want to write more deeply. Novelists come in packs, and many people are well on their way and need to only hone the writing, cut some words, twist the plot in another

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-43094678814427326002011-09-25T07:05:00.002-04:002011-11-21T06:35:26.301-05:00

I'll be at a monastery this coming week, in my own little hermitage in the woods. Listening Point, a hermitage ministry on 80 wooded acres with beach access near Erie, Pennsylvania, will be where I wake up to yoga, pray and breakfast with the sisters of Mount Saint Benedict Monastery, walk, and write. My hope is to work on a memoir and a book on writing. I will be changed by a week of solitude. I

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-85061201505858396492011-09-21T06:59:00.002-04:002011-09-21T06:59:00.343-04:00

If you don’t know where to begin, where to start up a true writing life, just write.  Write every day, retreat from the world in the cocoon that envelopes you and the words that you need to get out, the words that will die inside you if you don’t let them out, the words that might just cause you to blow up like a balloon and burst and fizzle out to nothing if you don’t allow them to be written. 

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-26433963129723471792011-09-12T07:01:00.000-04:002011-09-12T07:01:40.447-04:00

I asked my on-line writing group whether I had to do it all--blogging, e-mail marketing, Facebook, Linked In, Twitter--and they said I do. This was yesterday after having a real heart-to-heart with my husband about having too much to do. Instead of letting it get me down, I got busy. I had a social networking day and sent out an e-mail about the Fall retreat and book appearances, and put

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-75682254292855141382011-09-12T06:57:00.000-04:002011-09-12T06:57:00.137-04:00

“All serious daring starts within.” –Eudora Welty

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-47643744346006823952011-09-05T06:46:00.001-04:002011-09-05T06:46:00.744-04:00

C. S. Lewis wrote, “People read to know they are not alone.”  We write for the same reason. We love words because they are our way of communicating with the world, whether we’re hearing the stories or telling them. The reading and the writing are intertwined like a well-written story so that the writer becomes the reader and the reader gets into the writer’s head.

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-23050450395828887762011-08-31T20:41:00.000-04:002011-08-31T20:41:00.175-04:00

“Any mood is a good writing mood. The trick is to simply enter whatever mood like a room and sit down and write from there.”  --Julia Cameron

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-82722074133785796272011-08-27T06:43:00.000-04:002011-08-27T06:43:00.448-04:00

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow; Learn as if you were to live forever.”  --Mahatma Ghandhi

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-43511602364512657282011-08-21T20:41:00.000-04:002011-08-21T20:41:04.735-04:00

The first thing that’s necessary is to have a burning desire to write.  You wake up in the morning and want to write about yesterday’s discoveries.  When something spectacular happens to you, you want to write about it, and when you’re having a bad day, you want to get it out and let it go.  Stories come to you at odd moments, and you want to get them down right then and there with no

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-90052720840621444652011-08-21T06:04:00.001-04:002011-08-21T06:04:00.424-04:00

We ignite possibilities one retreat weekend at a time at the Word Lovers retreats.  The Fall 2011 retreat is  November 4-6 at the Idlewyld Bed and Breakfast in historic Lakeside, Ohio.  The food and wine experience will include cooking together and optional winery tours and tastings. Friday evening begins with writing prompts, and Saturday sessions include a session on writing a non-fiction book

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-78365707303022169942011-08-17T06:39:00.001-04:002011-08-17T06:39:00.403-04:00

When I was a child, I slept on a cot on a sleeping porch of a Victorian cottage in Lakeside while crickets serenaded me. Rows upon rows of cottages with postage-sized front lawns and comfortable front porches cozied up to the quiet narrow streets. I sunned on the dock that stretches into the Lake, played miniature golf in the afternoons in Central Park, licked ice cream that ran down a cone

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-7561129230390935062011-08-11T06:38:00.001-04:002011-08-11T06:38:00.129-04:00

A decade ago, I fell in love with the idea of retreating from the world in the company of other seekers of the creative muse and a life free from outside tethers. Maybe that’s called running away to some, but for me, it feels like I’m walking towards who I was meant to be. In those moments in time, my spirit lifts, and if I start putting words on paper, I am connecting with a creative force, with

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-82889709212944909592011-08-04T06:34:00.003-04:002011-08-04T06:34:01.996-04:00

“Any mood is a good writing mood. The trick is to simply enter whatever mood like a room and sit down and write from there.” --Julia Cameron

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-72316613116616079822011-07-28T06:29:00.002-04:002011-07-28T06:29:00.400-04:00

My entire manuscript is sitting here on my desk and I keep fooling with it. When will I allow it to go forth into the world? When will I feel it is done? How will I know it? I give you the beginning, and maybe that will give me the courage to let it go. "My mother died in the middle of the night during daffodil days. A year later, above Willow Beach, daffodils roam the hillside and brighten a

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-31665224744339556342011-07-21T06:29:00.000-04:002011-07-21T06:29:00.246-04:00

I need to write in my journal about local Cleveland writer Paula McLain's book The Paris Wife. The book was so exquisite, so full of passages I marked to be remembered, that I don't know where to start. The book captured the feel of the Lost Generation's Paris and realistically took us into Hadley's marriage to a determined young writer. What was most surprising was how much the book brought

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-80627207376404055072011-01-31T22:26:00.000-05:002011-01-31T22:26:00.526-05:00

The wedding invitation was on gray paper with light gray engravings and indicated the wedding would be in the garden at two, with reception and dancing to follow at a nearby pavilion. The program included the lyrics by Beirut “And I will love to see that day that day is mine when she will marry me outside with the willow trees.” The wedding helped me remember how important it is to be true and

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-80211508366838462032011-01-24T22:31:00.001-05:002011-01-24T22:31:01.102-05:00

Check out my article on Ohio Knitting Mills, a love letter to Cleveland and its garment district past. 

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-11921554101432264952011-01-17T22:38:00.000-05:002011-01-17T22:38:40.956-05:00

I wrapped up a year of writing for Yahoo! Local and Cool Cleveland with my Year-End Wrap-Up, my own love letter to Cleveland. 

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-65550867974620167742011-01-17T07:38:00.002-05:002011-01-17T22:21:35.412-05:00

Energy and enchantment have been my mantra over the last few weeks as I’ve improved my home to be more of a retreat, planned out my year of writing and retreats, and thought about how I want to spend vacation this year. I find myself seeking repose, and I did so with three books, two by local authors Sarah Willis and Thrity Umrigar (Some Things That Stay and The Weight of Heaven) and the other by

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-75287955165176547072011-01-07T06:50:00.001-05:002011-01-17T22:22:07.149-05:00

I'm excited to participate and lead five different events this year, my fourth year of Igniting Possibilities events.  I continue to co-host an Artist's Way retreat with Joan Barris at the Idlewyld and am hosting my usual Word Lovers weekends, and in addition to a winter Connecting to the Authentic Self, I'm also leading a spring memoir program. Here's a quick summary: Eat, Pray, Love, a

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-78823584049517601182010-09-20T22:00:00.000-04:002010-09-20T22:00:00.321-04:00

“For me writing has always felt like praying, even when I wasn’t writing prayers, as I am often enough. You feel that you are with someone. I feel I am with you now, whatever than can mean . . . To me it seems rather Christlike to be as unadorned as this place is, as little regarded.”From Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-56691491207336681312010-09-12T21:54:00.000-04:002010-09-12T21:54:00.907-04:00

“The only obligation any artist can have is to himself. His work means nothing, otherwise. It has no meaning,” Truman Capote's good advice for any writer.

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-36146750173592802932010-09-06T22:55:00.000-04:002010-09-06T22:56:46.892-04:00

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-6707923458213266882010-08-28T21:50:00.003-04:002011-01-17T07:46:50.129-05:00

“Writing is one way of discovering sequence in experience . . . connections slowly emerge. Like distant landmarks you are approaching, cause and effect begin to align themselves . . . experiences . . . connect and are identified as a larger shape.”  - Eudora Welty

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-14874520332820035762010-08-11T20:17:00.005-04:002010-08-11T20:36:03.624-04:00

I'm really looking forward to this Fall's Word Lover's Retreat after spending a long weekend at the Idlewyld in Lakeside. The weather will be tremendous the third weekend in September, and the porch is a perfect place to write. The bench on the Pier Pavilion or a wicker chair with cozy cushions and soft knitted throws in the living room or the top porch of the B&B are all great places to write.

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-51647018464605344272010-07-25T06:57:00.000-04:002010-07-25T06:57:00.912-04:00

The best place to spend late summer lazy days is in the Cuyahoga Valley (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2976198/five_mustsee_places_in_the_cuyahoga.html?cat=16). The goldenrod is shoulder high and the turtles sunbathe in the old canal, once part of the Ohio-Erie Canalway and today an ancient-spirit place of solace. I've often written about the Valley, as a place to reconnect with

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-5207279842730521732010-07-10T06:53:00.001-04:002010-07-10T06:53:00.327-04:00

Cleveland's Millionaire's Row, along Euclid Avenue, was once a place to stroll on Sundays past iron gates protecting expansive green lawns. The Western Reserve Historical Society has exhibited what Cleveland was like then at periodic exhibits complete with maps showing where Cleveland's monied entrepreneurs lived. Few of the old mansions are left, but Euclid Avenue's residential occupancy rate

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-19646253784004395302010-07-05T06:51:00.000-04:002010-07-05T06:51:00.195-04:00

And there's lots to do in the city. Check out my ideas at http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5495312/five_warmweather_events_in_downtown.html?cat=2.

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-15574812223371694132010-07-02T06:44:00.000-04:002010-07-02T06:44:00.458-04:00

I first met Arnie Esterer, winemaker and owner of Markko Vineyards in Conneaut, on our first Ohio wine country adventure. Arnie, with partner Tim Hubbard, started experimenting with European varietals and French-American hybrids in the late 1960s after purchasing one hundred acres of land, as instructed by Dr. Konstantin Franc of New York’s Finger Lakes. It’s easy to miss the stone gates on the

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-20411849050557343802010-06-29T06:41:00.002-04:002010-06-29T06:43:47.756-04:00

When I was a child, Y swimming lessons were often cancelled because of dead fish in the water. Today, the Lake is so clean I can see my feet two feet down. I've learned to be grateful for northern Ohio's greatest asset, and I wrote about it for Earth Day: http://www.coolcleveland.com/blog/2010/04/toast-the-great-lakes-on-earth-day/.

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-39766546876261350262010-06-16T22:29:00.002-04:002010-06-16T22:34:29.372-04:00

Husband Paul bought me Patricia Latimer’s Ohio Wine Country Excursions for Christmas. We enjoyed many romantic trips to New York’s Finger Lakes region, where the vineyards roll down the hills to the deep glacier-grooved lakes, but Ohio’s wineries were closer to home. In the 19th century, Ohio was the major wine producing state along the Ohio River and, beginning in the 1830s, along Lake Erie

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-59423459073042046342010-06-03T22:37:00.000-04:002010-06-03T22:37:00.150-04:00

When I finally read The Year That Trembled by Scott Lax, I found out what I needed to know about how young men felt on the eve of the 1971 draft for Vietnam. No one wanted to go to Vietnam, and by that time, Vietnam seemed pretty stupid. The Year That Trembled was about five guys, one of whom was drafted and killed during the war. The main character had fallen in love with the wife of the guy

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-27491943999448340552010-05-24T22:34:00.000-04:002010-05-24T22:34:00.433-04:00

“To gain your own voice, you have to forget about having it heard. Renounce that and you get your own voice automatically. Try to become a saint of your own province and your own consciousness, and you don’t worry about being heard in The New York Times.” Allen Ginsburg

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-67912389151856479252010-05-02T22:37:00.003-04:002010-05-02T22:38:59.860-04:00

Haiku from my Brown Bear Diary after hosting the Word Lovers Retreat at the Idlewyld:Lavender, tall blue,Black cats lounge, see gold-eyed.Stay right spirited.Seagulls plunge, drop, spray,Tumble into waves, glide forth.Damp mood ascends high.Big-branched tree hidesupstairs porch above rockers.Create words freely.

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-52895366209271989172010-04-30T22:35:00.000-04:002010-04-30T22:35:00.558-04:00

The book My Life in France by Julia Child was an inspiration to all of us to follow our passions and a tribute to her because she did just that. Her efforts were monumental and she was a perfectionist when she was writing her two-volume Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I enjoyed the retelling of the process she went through to cook and perfect recipes and write about them, her tales of living

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-59075140503177937722010-04-18T22:32:00.000-04:002010-04-03T22:33:56.518-04:00

“I write in a very conversational way, because to me it’s so exciting and fun. There’s nothing funnier on earth than our humanness and our monkeyness. There’s nothing more touching, and it’s what I love to come upon when I’m reading; someone who’s gotten really down and dirty, and they’re taking the dross of life and doing alchemy, turning it into magic, tenderness and compassion and hilarity. So

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-3548760548996706002010-02-28T08:12:00.002-05:002010-02-28T08:14:26.189-05:00

Les Roberts, who has written 24 novels, close to a dozen short stories, eight screenplays and countless newspaper articles and reviews, will be the writer-in-residence at the Word Lover's Retreat this spring. Join Les and other writers in Lakeside, Ohio, during the weekend of April 30, May 1 and 2, for another weekend of listening to and playing with words, creating poetry, exploring the elements

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-49910414153318410932010-02-28T07:29:00.002-05:002010-02-28T07:59:01.736-05:00

Tatiana de Rosnay's Sarah’s Key was tragic and redemptive. Set in WWII Paris and in modern-day Paris, de Rosnay wove the tales of two women, a young Jewish girl who innocently locked her brother in the closet on the day of the 1942 roundup and a middle-aged woman married to an insensitive Frenchman. The stories are told in alternating short chapters--hats off to de Rosnay for seamless stories

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-59835273579591436132009-11-22T07:06:00.002-05:002010-04-03T22:30:22.085-04:00

Ohio’s in the midst of a grape-growing, wine-making revival, and its wines are winning wine competitions on a national level. East of Cleveland, Ashtabula County has more wineries per square mile than any other region of the state and is home to over half of the wine grape acreage in Ohio. Ohio was the first state to cultivate grapes and was the leading producer of wine in the United States

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-38829785106185461132009-10-22T07:09:00.000-04:002009-11-22T07:23:55.364-05:00

Sonia Nazario took risks to write an authentic account of what Enrique, a youth from Honduras, and thousands like him experience when they try to reach the United States by traveling through Mexico. Imagine riding on top of a train while constantly concerned about bandits robbing you of your mother's telephone number in North Carolina or the police catching you to bribe you for your freedom or

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-26801001566878762032009-08-02T14:25:00.000-04:002009-11-22T07:22:19.318-05:00

The beauty of Alaska is found in the Tongass National Forest along the coast north of British Columbia, where the forest drips with moisture and moss hangs from the trees. I still dream about Alaska all these months later. From Mount Roberts in Juneau, the morning sun glows on a waterway as smooth as a backyard pond. We biked to a log-cabin chapel in the woods and around Mendenhall Glacier before

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-29486607952982763892009-07-06T06:39:00.004-04:002009-07-06T06:54:58.727-04:00

One of the highlights of my year is spending time in the Cuyahoga Valley with fellow writers in August. Skyline Writers has made Hines Hill Conference Center its home-away-from-home for several years, and my memories include dappled sun through tall trees, walks along the Tow Path, deer grazing on the lawn, and trading ideas with other writers at the picnic tables outside the weathered estate.

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-20473525029524925752009-06-14T19:25:00.003-04:002009-06-14T19:47:19.284-04:00

We saw two sunsets last night.We started in Lakewood where the sun created yellow-peach tattered and rolling clouds, then drove to Huntington when we realized the Summer Solstice is almost upon us and we had another hour until sunset. At Huntington, we found seats on a rock and watched the red orb we know as the sun melt into Lake Erie. It was after nine o'clock.Last year we spent the longest

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-75122486201142576182009-05-03T21:55:00.002-04:002009-05-03T22:00:12.097-04:00

Francine Prose's Reading Like a Writer and Elizabeth Lyon's Manuscript Makeover inspired the word lovers who were at the Idlewyld this past weekend to write more deeply, clearly, and grammatically. Some participants claim they were able to complete projects or take them further because of the heated enthusiasm generated when people who love to write get together and share their passion. I'm

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-79848730928502648672009-04-26T21:14:00.001-04:002009-04-26T21:19:32.864-04:00

I go back to Alaska when walking in the Cuyahoga Valley because we now have eagles in common. The white head of an eagle can be easily spotted amidst the green of spruce and sycamore in Haines, Alaska, or the blue-blue sky of a surprisingly sun-shiny day on the North Coast. In Haines last summer, we listened to local lore told by our Eagle Preserve tour director-radio personality-writer, then

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-46888121629385360342009-04-16T07:05:00.002-04:002009-04-16T07:27:10.053-04:00

Paintings lined the sidewalks in the Village, jugglers bounced red balls in Washington Square, and a violinist serenaded me when I was seventeen, in New York for the first time. I've been to New York City many times since, but this month, our family became NYC tourists. It fascinates me how even though Manhattan's tall buildings seem endless, I know how to find Times Square and Central Park and

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-62492983960946143782009-04-08T06:35:00.001-04:002009-04-08T06:37:32.336-04:00

I enjoyed Peter Jedick’s The West Tech Terrorist, which is a young adult novel. It takes place in 1941 at the start of World War II during the time when West Tech High was one of the largest high schools in the nation. The brink of war is the backdrop and Cleveland legend Eliot Ness gets involved in solving the mystery of the radio club’s German communications with contacts in Canada. A young

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-13291530483811940742009-03-22T20:55:00.003-04:002009-04-26T21:17:19.457-04:00

Who says Cleveland isn’t cool?We witnessed The Farnsworth Invention on the main stage of Beck Center for the Arts on Friday evening, and it was an excellent play written by Aaron Sorkin who wrote West Wing. Farnsworth invented the television but died tragically without notice. He lost his soul to a dream that he reached only to have it snatched from him. The play so well written and acted that

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-47200976508428630612009-03-05T05:43:00.003-05:002009-03-05T05:59:13.135-05:00

When people ask me about our trip to Alaska this summer, I tell them the land is big, beautiful, and wild, and the people are resilient. With 600,000 people in a territory 2.3 times the size of Texas, Alaska is mostly wilderness. The Alaska Highway traverses through Anchorage and Fairbanks and up to Prudhoe Bay, but 40% of Alaskans have no access to roadways and must use dog sleds, bush planes

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-45046750321578906442009-02-15T21:00:00.000-05:002009-03-22T20:43:45.857-04:00

In the movie Big Night, recently-mmigrated Italian brothers struggle to revive their floundering restaurant. The business-end brother falls into a trap set by a competitor and make a “big night” effort for a visiting celebrity, which should revive the place. The party comes off well—the food is exquisite and the guests have fun—but the celebrity doesn’t show, which means the brothers have no

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-83281533239873657042009-01-31T20:21:00.000-05:002009-03-22T20:45:03.645-04:00

We recently saw films about following one’s passion. One, Purple Violets, was about writing and going for your dreams and allowing love to blossom. The other, The Red Violin, was a literary film. The movie focused on the history of a violin, from its conception to its sale at an auction and the affect of the violin on its owners. The violin is the protagonist and its red because its

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-76624314198390945242008-12-01T06:17:00.007-05:002009-03-22T20:54:51.636-04:00

We hiked 1,500 feet up Deer Mountain in the rainforest of Ketchikan, with the sound of dripping water in the background and moss hanging from the trees while we kept a close look out for bears on our climb—at the top we were rewarded with a misty view of the harbor below. We stopped by the Totem Heritage Center, Deer Mountain Salmon Hatchery, and Eagle Center run by Native Americans who are proud

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-15282038621588413672008-07-13T07:37:00.001-04:002008-07-13T23:15:30.554-04:00

We boarded The Veendam on June 13. It was our first cruise and the easiest way to get to the ports in the Tongass rainforest in southeast Alaska. Our ports of call were Ketchikan, Juneau, Sitka, and Haines, with a stop at Hubbard Glacier in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park before disembarkation at Seward. But first, we were at sea for a day and a half. Vancouver Island is much larger than I

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-89575380868019019552008-07-02T06:28:00.003-04:002008-07-08T07:34:27.279-04:00

Many people believe Vancouver to be one of the most beautiful North American cities. With the way the mountains rise above the water that surrounds the city, the city is not just beautiful, it's soothing to the soul. Even in mid-June, the humid, misty air keeps it cool in temperate Vancouver.En route to Alaska, we found Vancouver to be a vibrant city with great natural assets. We stayed at the

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-33937790983235966382008-05-24T08:04:00.003-04:002008-05-25T07:33:04.037-04:00

Word Lover’s Retreat participants felt right at home at the Idlewyld Bed and Breakfast, built in 1888 on Walnut Street in Lakeside. A private gated community founded as an independent Chautauqua on Lake Erie’s shores in 1873, Lakeside is one of the few remnants of the adult education movement popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Innkeepers Dan and Joan Barris ran the kitchen while

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-41879875219560852008-05-05T22:19:00.000-04:002008-05-05T22:37:13.216-04:00

When I read Hemingway I search for Hemingway’s struggle as a writer, but when I read Steinbeck I am interested in the way he told stories. What a story teller he was . . . so real and true and attentive to the nature of human beings. No rose colored glasses, just life, in Cannery Row. Steinbeck entertains by re-telling obscure details or facts or discovering information. This passage is just

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-40852463935493103602008-05-05T21:52:00.001-04:002008-05-05T22:18:56.324-04:00

Hemingway’s The Garden of Eden is sensual and complicated and about Hemingway. The mad girl, the wife of the writer-protagonist David creates puzzles with her words when she says things like, “I’m how you want but I’m how I want too and it isn’t as though it wasn’t for us both.” Of the published clippings he carries, the ones that will eventually destroy them, she says, “I’m frightened by them

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-67676285855575543832008-04-24T19:23:00.000-04:002008-04-24T19:24:56.263-04:00

"People read to know they are not alone." C.S.Lewis

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-71822631987275518262008-04-24T19:13:00.001-04:002008-04-24T19:22:50.460-04:00

I just finished re-reading Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, and it spoke to me on the power of books and the importance of authenticity. In this book, the firemen burn books to keep society from thinking, so people can have fun and get lost in their entertainment wall panels and made-up “families.” Some of the best quotes in the book are things the fire chief Faber says, as for example, when he

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-86654796770514565672008-04-22T22:15:00.001-04:002008-04-22T22:30:51.667-04:00

The Cleveland International Film Festival showed "The Hours" and honored Michael Cunningham for the success of a book made into a movie. When I found out the book was inspired by Virginia Wolf's "Mrs. Dalloway," I had to see it. Mrs. Dalloway and Virginia Woolf, a fictional character and and the creator, are intelligently and thoughtfully interwoven in the movie “The Hours.” Add another

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-72914500714128378172008-03-30T07:54:00.004-04:002008-04-09T05:33:27.552-04:00

Long weekends are great, but there's no substitute for extended time away. My parents are in Fort Lauderdale, just off a cruise ship to the Caribbean, and when I listened to my mother talk about sitting by the pool last night, I was jealous. I'm itching to go somewhere, will even consider a weekend on Put-in-Bay until we can embark on our long-anticipated (and paid for) cruise tour of Alaska in

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-310600957216465542008-03-26T21:29:00.000-04:002008-03-26T21:50:22.244-04:00

I lust after wandering around in new places. I’d long been intrigued by the monthly Loganberry Books newsletters and wanted to explore it and write about the experience, so I headed over to find Larchmere Boulevard in Shaker Heights. I found Harriett Logan’s spunky space possesses an old-fashioned literary quirkiness that is a welcome respite for book lovers. I kept saying “wow!” because the

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-82488013119921899602008-03-24T21:22:00.000-04:002008-03-26T22:07:20.071-04:00

When I was a child, I slept on a cot on a sleeping porch of a Victorian cottage in Lakeside while crickets serenaded me. Rows upon rows of cottages with postage-sized front lawns and comfortable front porches cozied up to the quiet narrow streets. I sunned on the dock that stretches into the Lake, played miniature golf in the afternoons in Central Park, licked ice cream that ran down a cone on

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-5661277707110571392008-03-15T08:22:00.006-04:002008-03-15T09:05:36.828-04:00

Linda Olsson’s first book, Astrid & Veronika , was crafted within the cocoon of a writing program. Every word counted, every moment was worth the time spent. It was an excellent book, tight and pregnant with sensations and meaning. It left me more with a feeling than a story, the preciousness of thoughtful and deep friendship stays with me. Olsson explores the passing of time and importance

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-1017265123789262662008-03-13T21:36:00.005-04:002008-03-15T09:18:17.810-04:00

My friend Gayle just presented our decades-old book group with a list of books we read that became movies. Our ability to choose movie-worthy books is uncanny. I will not be surprised if our most recent choice--Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen--appears on a movie screen. It has all the right elements--intrigue, romance, and a colorful setting. People ask me "Which one was better, the book or

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-34817501224398546622008-02-27T07:01:00.003-05:002008-03-01T20:03:05.594-05:00

Alice Hoffman tells a great story, and the story of the Sparrow women and the rest of Unity in The Probable Future is a good yarn. I admit to listening to it on audiotape read by Susan Ericksen, but I could have sworn it was the author reading it in her wonderfully descriptive prose. The thing about Alice is, when I hear her words, I’m impressed by the vivid descriptions. She creates a world

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-58507312218337550652008-02-09T19:48:00.002-05:002008-02-15T09:07:27.759-05:00

While in Lakeside at the Artist’s Way Retreat this past fall, we were called upon to reflect on influential people in our lives and how they molded our authentic selves. Our influences begin with our parents. Early on, my father gave me the freedom to dream and the drive to change the world. My mother gave me the need to care for others and the reserve to hold back. Despite struggles with

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-3961596024633637252008-01-28T22:47:00.000-05:002008-02-07T07:38:12.005-05:00

"A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini is an eloquent story about women abused and frightened and with no hope, about the terrible wars in Afghanistan, about the juxtaposition between what was and what became, and about the landscape of the country the author was born in. Again, I have read a book about the Middle East, with Pakistan again in the background, the place to which Afghan

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328641147157411378.post-41511790534522525002008-01-13T21:16:00.000-05:002008-01-29T07:13:04.830-05:00

LOFTY THOUGHTS—DR. PAUL FARMER MOVES MOUNTAINSBy Claudia J. TallerAlthough lofty thoughts and contemplation will not solve the world’s problems, being reminded of world issues and possible solutions can spur us to make our own contribution. Paul Farmer, MD, speaks on “Global Health Equity” on February 7 at Cleveland's Palace Theater on Playhouse Square. I read reporter Tracy Kidder’s book on

Claudia J. Tallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596879683695458235noreply@blogger.com2