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    • Fearless Writing Exploration May 27th
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Crescent Dragonwagon

9 WAYS TO BUILD A CREATIVE ECOSYSTEM, GLEANED FROM A WRITER’S  FINAL BIRTHDAY PARTY

9 WAYS TO BUILD A CREATIVE ECOSYSTEM, GLEANED FROM A WRITER’S FINAL BIRTHDAY PARTY

By Crescent Dragonwagon

THERE IS NOTHING MORE SOLITARY THAN THE ACT OF WRITING. YET, NO WORK MAKES IT TO PUBLICATION IN SOLITUDE. MY LATE MOTHER’S LAST BIRTHDAY BROUGHT THIS HOME TO ME. THRIVING IN THIS SOLITARY PROFESSION TURNS OUT TO REQUIRE AN ECOSYSTEM. HERE’S HOW TO GROW YOURS. We celebrated my mother’s 97th birthday, her next-to-last, in 2012, on the front porch of… Read More

Filed Under: Charlotte Zolotow, creativity, Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer, self-understanding, personal growth, writing, Writing Courses Tagged With: Aidan Chambers, Francesca Lia Block, how to be a writer, how to be more creative, how to become a writer, how to build a creative community, LGBTQ, LGBTQ-friendly children's books, Pride, William's Doll

LOVE IN THE TIME OF CARDIO

LOVE IN THE TIME OF CARDIO

By Crescent Dragonwagon

IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH. TIL DEATH DO YOU PART. THESE WORDS, ALWAYS SOLEMN, ARE VERY DIFFERENT DEPENDING ON WHEN YOU UTTER THEM TO YOUR PARTNER: IN YOUTH, WHEN YOU ARE UN- OR LESS-TRIED? OR LATER, PERHAPS MUCH LATER, AFTER LIFE HAS BEATEN YOU UP A FEW TIMES? THIS IS MY HEARTFELT VALENTINE TO LATE-LIFE LOVE. I wrote the story… Read More

Filed Under: creativity, Fearless Writing, Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer, self-understanding, personal growth Tagged With: A-Fib, cardio, caregiving, caregiving a partner, emergency room, late-life love, scares, spouse caregiving, Valentine's

ANGELS, ARRIVING IN SNOW: A NON-CHRISTMAS CHRISTMAS STORY

ANGELS, ARRIVING IN SNOW: A NON-CHRISTMAS CHRISTMAS STORY

By Crescent Dragonwagon

I NEVER BELIEVED IN SANTA CLAUS. NOT EVEN AS A KID, FOR REASONS I’LL MAKE CLEAR. BUT THE JURY IS STILL OUT ON ANGELS. If you want an inspirational, heartwarming story about Christmas, look elsewhere. I grew up the child of adamantly non-practicing Jews, in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, then predominantly Irish-,  Polish-, and Italian-Catholic. My mother, Charlotte Zolotow, used to… Read More

Filed Under: Fearless Writing, Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer

THE 7 STEPS OF WRITING ANYTHING: YOU’RE SO VAIN, I BET YOU THINK THIS POST IS ABOUT YOU

THE 7 STEPS OF WRITING ANYTHING: YOU’RE SO VAIN, I BET YOU THINK THIS POST IS ABOUT YOU

By Crescent Dragonwagon

 “CLOUDS IN MY COFFEE.” I’M SURE I DIDN’T HAVE TO SAY ANY MORE THAN THAT TO FIND YOU SINGING CARLY SIMON’S, “YOU’RE SO VAIN.” THE STORY OF HOW THAT SONG GOT WRITTEN IS HOW EVERYTHING GETS WRITTEN. Remember “You’re So Vain” by Carly Simon? There’s an apocryphal story about it. Decades ago Simon was flying across country to New York… Read More

Filed Under: creativity, Fearless Writing, Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer, writing, Writing Courses Tagged With: Carly Simon, creative process, creative writing, David Geffen, how to write a hit song, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, songwriting, Warren Beatty, writing

ABOUT  TUESDAYS WITH CRESCENT

ABOUT TUESDAYS WITH CRESCENT

By Crescent Dragonwagon

Low-key, high-energy, challenging and gentle, Tuesdays with Crescent is a 10-week, once-a-week small writing group. It takes place on ten consecutive Tuesday evenings, in real time (6:30 pm to 8:30 pm Central).  You may attend from anywhere, online, via Zoom, or physically (in Fayetteville, Arkansas). Participation is limited to 12. In just ten sessions, you will shift from anxiety to… Read More

Filed Under: Crescent Dragonwagon, Events, Fearless Writing, self-understanding, personal growth, writing

THREE MEN I LOVED, STILL LOVE.  TWO OF THEM DEAD, ONE VERY MUCH ALIVE.  THREE POEMS.

THREE MEN I LOVED, STILL LOVE. TWO OF THEM DEAD, ONE VERY MUCH ALIVE. THREE POEMS.

By Crescent Dragonwagon

IS WRITING A WAY TO KEEP YOUR HEART AND LIFE WIDE OPEN, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU DON’T WANT TO, BECAUSE YOU’RE DEEP IN THE MONOTONOUS PAIN OF GRIEVING? SHOULD YOU? HOW CAN YOU, WHEN THERE IS SO MUCH HURT,  AND SOMETIMES, SO MUCH UGLINESS? YET, ALTHOUGH WHEN DEEP IN GRIEF WE DO NOT EXPERIENCE OR BELIEVE IT, THE OPPOSITE IS ALSO TRUE…. Read More

Filed Under: #WidowhoodWednesday, Fearless Living, grief, self-understanding, personal growth, widowhood, writing, Writing Courses

WIDOW, WILL YOU DANCE WITH ME? AN INVITATION

WIDOW, WILL YOU DANCE WITH ME? AN INVITATION

By Crescent Dragonwagon

My dear fellow member of the Club No One Wants to Join, I started Widowhood Wednesday just under a year ago. I was almost seventeen years past my first widowhood, almost three past my second. I was accompanying (to the extent it is possible that another person can accompany another in the freshets of recent grief), my recently widowed friend… Read More

Filed Under: #WidowhoodWednesday, Conversations with Crescent Classes, Crescent Dragonwagon, Events, Fearless Living, self-understanding, personal growth, widowhood Tagged With: community, grief, grieving, the Club No One Wants to Join

CHARLOTTE ZOLOTOW’S “SLEEPY BOOK” AWAKENS IN CHINA

CHARLOTTE ZOLOTOW’S “SLEEPY BOOK” AWAKENS IN CHINA

By Crescent Dragonwagon

A PERSON HAS A LIFE, WITH A DEFINITE AND IRREFUTABLE BEGINNING, MIDDLE, AND END. BUT, WITH A BOOK IT’S NOT SO CLEAR. I spent a recent Sunday, improbably, working on an introduction to the forthcoming Chinese edition of a children’s book entitled Sleepy Book. Written in 1956 or ’57 and published in 1958, its author is Charlotte Zolotow, my late… Read More

Filed Under: Books, Charlotte Zolotow, Fearless Writing, Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer, Writing Courses Tagged With: children's book illustrations, children's books, literary executor, reissues, Sleepy Book

DEAR ROSALEE, ABOUT THAT WHOLE FUTURE QUESTION, & USING OR NOT USING, & SOME STUFF MY WRITER-FATHER (WHO USED TO BE A DRUNK) PASSED ON TO ME …

DEAR ROSALEE, ABOUT THAT WHOLE FUTURE QUESTION, & USING OR NOT USING, & SOME STUFF MY WRITER-FATHER (WHO USED TO BE A DRUNK) PASSED ON TO ME …

By Crescent Dragonwagon

SOMETIMES YOU JUST DON’T KNOW HOW IT’S GOING TO COME OUT. OR EVEN IF IT WILL. BUT IF YOU HANG IN THERE ANYWAY, TRANSFORMATION IS POSSIBLE. IN FACT, IT MIGHT BE ON ITS WAY TO YOU RIGHT NOW, HERE’S WHAT MY EDGY, ALCOHOLIC, WRITER FATHER – WHO LATER SOBERED UP – TAUGHT ME ABOUT THIS. About three years ago, a… Read More

Filed Under: Fearless Writing, Maurice Zolotow, Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer Tagged With: AA, daughter, father, Los Angeles, Maurice Zolotow, sobriety, transformation, writing

BILLIONAIRES, ROME, & APPALACHIA: WINNERS, LOSERS, GENEROSITY

BILLIONAIRES, ROME, & APPALACHIA: WINNERS, LOSERS, GENEROSITY

By Crescent Dragonwagon

Last week, in Louisville,  Kentucky, I noticed a nice-looking — okay, cute — somewhat formally dressed man, seated alone across the aisle from me on the bus. He was youngish (I’m 64, so a shocking number of people now look youngish to me). He seemed a little jittery, not quite at ease. This was the last night of the 39th Annual Conference… Read More

Filed Under: Fearless Writing

HOW I MET HIM, LOVED HIM, LOST HIM: BLUEGRASS, APPLE CRISP, & FEARLESSNESS IN THE FACE OF MYSTERY

HOW I MET HIM, LOVED HIM, LOST HIM: BLUEGRASS, APPLE CRISP, & FEARLESSNESS IN THE FACE OF MYSTERY

By Crescent Dragonwagon

I blame, or credit, Carol Gaddy. She heard me reading poetry between sets of a bluegrass band at a now-defunct nightclub in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. If you are silly enough to attempt such a reading, you will find your poetry greatly improved by the endeavor. The feedback is like no other:  if one single phrase isn’t smacking your audience upside… Read More

Filed Under: #WidowhoodWednesday, Fearless Writing, Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer

Join Crescent Dragonwagon Online February 29th!

Join Crescent Dragonwagon Online February 29th!

By Crescent Dragonwagon

Crescent Dragonwagon presents an evening together, Procrastination, Toasted, Write Now, Don’t Wait Another Four Years.  A one evening online course for writers and want to be writers. This delightful experience will feature Crescent sharing processes to overcome procrastination and develop your practice of writing and fear of failure as a writer.  The creator of Fearless Writing ™ as featured in… Read More

Filed Under: Events Tagged With: Crescent Dragonwagon's Procrastination, online event, Toasted. Write now. Don't wait another 4 years.

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Read Aloud with Crescent and Mark

NOT A LITTLE MONKEY, by Charlotte Zolotow, illustrted by Michelle Chessaree

"So, the little girl climbed into the big waste-basket and waited." ' Oh no,' said her mother, ' we don't want to throw you away.'"There are many ways to express love and the need for attention. Here, a busy mother and her just-a-bit naughty little girl tease each other affectionately — the little girl making her point without even uttering a word.That's today's story time — read aloud by the author's daughter at Crescent Dragonwagon's Writing, Cooking, & Workshops, with Mark Graff's "text support" and discussion."Just right for two-to-fours, the humor of this true-to-life story of a mischievous little girl who blocks her mother's attempts to clean house will elicit giggles from the lollipop set." Kirkus Reviews

Posted by Crescent Dragonwagon's Writing, Cooking, & Workshops on Thursday, June 4, 2020

Read Aloud with Crescent

Read Aloud with Crescent

The Washington Post on Crescent’s Lentil Soup Recipe

The Washington Post on Crescent’s Lentil Soup Recipe

Greek Lentil Soup with Spinach and Lemon, photograph by Tom McCorkle, Washington Post

Bean By Bean Cookbooks

#DeepFeast Recipes

More Posts from this Category

Dinner with Dragonwagon

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 for children:

A NAPPA Gold Winner
NAPPA


"... like a warm luminescent blanket at bedtime... softly lulling." -- New York Times


"(With) weary animals, Dragonwagon offers an “alphabet of ways to sleep,” smoothly working in some alliteration..."
- Publishers Weekly (starred review)


Available at:

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read aloud with Crescent Dragonwagon

Until Just Moistened

Until Just Moistened

Available for Purchase

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