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  • FEARLESS WRITING™ 2023

Crescent Dragonwagon

“My late father, Maurice Zolotow, was a Hollywood biographer, a professional freelance writer and passionate reader. Whenever I went through hard times, personally or professionally, Maurice could be counted on to tell me two things. The first was advice:  ‘Write your way out of it!’ he’d bark, directively.  But then, more thoughtfully, he’d say, ‘It’s all material, Cres. Nothing is wasted on the writer.’

“These are words I’ve lived and written by; they have allowed me to find meaning and purpose in every age, stage, experience adventure and misadventure in life. Here, I do it again, focusing on our lives, mine and yours, as writers. I give some advice; I tell some stories.

"Thanks for the title, Maurice.”

FIERCE LIFE, FEARLESS LOVE, WRITING, & CURRY

FIERCE LIFE, FEARLESS LOVE, WRITING, & CURRY

By Crescent Dragonwagon

CARPE DIEM IS NOT JUST A REALISTIC IMPERATIVE  (BECAUSE, TRULY, WE NEVER KNOW HOW LONG WE HAVE). IT’S A VIBRANT INVITATION. WILL YOU RSVP? HERE’S THE STORY OF SOMEONE WHO DOES. Here in the South, it’s the tail-end of winter, and the start of spring. As ever with the change of the seasons, I think about the cycles of life:… Read More

Filed Under: Fearless Writing, Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer, Writing Courses Tagged With: IACP, International Association of Culinary Professionals, Raghavan Iyer

LOVE IN THE TIME OF CARDIO: A LATE-LIFE VALENTINE

LOVE IN THE TIME OF CARDIO: A LATE-LIFE VALENTINE

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

THEY DIDN’T KNOW THEY CHANGED ME, BUT THEY DID

THEY DIDN’T KNOW THEY CHANGED ME, BUT THEY DID

By Crescent Dragonwagon

Sometime in the mid-80’s, Joe Head and I were sitting together  in the Western District Carroll County courthouse, watching our City Council get sued for violating the Freedom of Information Act. And Joe said something so funny, endearing, smart, exasperating, and lovely, something which so encapsulated the loving dynamic tension that frequently animates my funky, quirky little former home-town, Eureka… Read More

Filed Under: Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer

MOTHERLESS MOTHER’S DAY: GROWING SELF-COMPASSION

MOTHERLESS MOTHER’S DAY: GROWING SELF-COMPASSION

By Crescent Dragonwagon

MOTHER’S DAY, IN ITS INSISTENCE ON SENTIMENT, BIOLOGY, AND CONSUMERISM, HAS ALWAYS DIMINISHED MOTHERING. FOR MOTHERING HAS ALWAYS BEEN MUCH BIGGER THAN MOTHERHOOD. AND IT TRANSCENDS REPRODUCTION. EVEN GENDER. Being a mother, and having a mother, even when it works beautifully, even in times of general robust public health and political stability, is never as simple as a mug saying… Read More

Filed Under: Charlotte Zolotow, mothering, Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer, self-understanding, personal growth, writing Tagged With: Mother's Day, mothering, self-compassion, self-love

BLOSSOMING, NO MATTER WHAT: A CHRISTMAS (CACTUS) STORY

BLOSSOMING, NO MATTER WHAT: A CHRISTMAS (CACTUS) STORY

By Crescent Dragonwagon

SOMETHING, SOMEWHERE, IS BLOOMING. NOW.  IT MAY NOT BE THE PLANT YOU WANTED OR EXPECTED. ITS TIMING MAY BE OFF, OR ODD, OR MYSTERIOUS. BUT BEFORE YOU GIVE OVER TO  DESPAIR, — EASY, IN THESE DIFFICULT AND UNENDINGLY STRESSFUL TIMES —  LOOK FOR THE BUD, THE BLOSSOM. IF IT CAN FLOWER IMPROBABLY, SO CAN YOU. 2012 was the last full… Read More

Filed Under: Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer Tagged With: aging, aging parents, Arkansas, Charlotte Zolotow, Christmas cactus, compassion towards self and others, David Koff, death, eldercare, friendship, grief, grieving, love, memoir, memoir-writing, writing

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

WRITERS, AND THEIR FATHERS (PLUS, A STRIPPER NAMED MARGIE)

WRITERS, AND THEIR FATHERS (PLUS, A STRIPPER NAMED MARGIE)

By Crescent Dragonwagon

“IT MUST BE IN YOUR DNA,” PEOPLE SOMETIMES TELL ME, ON LEARNING THAT I AM THE DAUGHTER OF WRITERS. BECAUSE  THIS OVERLOOKS THE SOLITARY, INDIVIDUAL WORK I PUT INTO WHAT I DO, IT USED TO BUG ME. YET HAVING A RELATIONSHIP THAT WAS AS COLLEGIAL AS IT WAS FAMILIAL WITH  MY FATHER, INFLUENCED ME. HOWEVER, ANY KIND OF FATHER INFLUENCES… Read More

Filed Under: Books, creativity, Maurice Zolotow, Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer, writing Tagged With: Ann Patchett, Colette, Father's Day, fathers and daughters

BEANBLOSSOM, CAT OF MY HEART, TEACHES ME ABOUT BECOMING LOVABLE

BEANBLOSSOM, CAT OF MY HEART, TEACHES ME ABOUT BECOMING LOVABLE

By Crescent Dragonwagon

HOW DO WE BECOME LOVABLE, AS IN, ABLE TO GIVE AND RECEIVE LOVE? SOMETIMES, WE LEARN FROM CATS. OR A CAT, PARTICULARLY BELOVED. IN MY CASE, THAT WAS BEANBLOSSOM. The other morning, I was making breakfast. I cracked two eggs for an omelette, into a small stainless steel bowl. Beating them with a fork, hearing that distinctive musical rhythmic metal-on-metal clang,… Read More

Filed Under: Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer Tagged With: #grief #bereavement, cats, grieving the death of a pet

MOTHERLESS MOTHER’S  DAY: THE CORONAVIRUS EDITION

MOTHERLESS MOTHER’S DAY: THE CORONAVIRUS EDITION

By Crescent Dragonwagon

MOTHER’S DAY, IN  ITS INSISTENCE ON SENTIMENT, BIOLOGY, AND CONSUMERISM, HAS ALWAYS DIMINISHED MOTHERING. AND IT’S ALWAYS BEEN CRUEL TO MANY AND REDUCTIVE TO ALL. THIS YEAR, CORONAVIRUS OFFERS US (IRONICALLY) A CHANCE TO DO BETTER. DEPENDING ON THE TENOR OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR MOTHER, “SOCIAL DISTANCING” WILL REQUIRE AT THE LEAST A CHANGE OF PLANS. BUT… Read More

Filed Under: Charlotte Zolotow, grief, Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer, writing Tagged With: celebrating Mother's Day during pandemic, Coronavirus, Covid-19, masks, Mother's Day, mothering, motherless, pandemic, social distance

UNLOCK THE BLOCK… THE CREATIVE ONE. AUTUMN HAS SOME ADVICE. ARE YOU LISTENING?

UNLOCK THE BLOCK… THE CREATIVE ONE. AUTUMN HAS SOME ADVICE. ARE YOU LISTENING?

By Crescent Dragonwagon

CREATIVITY — LIKE LIFE — HAS ITS SEASONS. FALL WOULD LIKE TO CALL YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS. FALL WOULD LIKE TO SHOW YOU SEVERAL FAIL-PROOF WAYS TO USE ITS ENERGY TO REBOOT YOURS. Feeling blocked, stuck, stagnant? Creatively or otherwise? Fall has a cure. Every seasonal shift reminds us that time is moving on, and diems are there to be… Read More

Filed Under: creativity, Crescent Dragonwagon, Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer Tagged With: fall energy, how to be more creative, how to begin again, how to end creative block, seasons of creativity, starting over, undoing writer's block, writer's block

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

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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

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"... 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)


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read aloud with Crescent Dragonwagon

Until Just Moistened

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