Category: Style and Grace

• A Special Day

  CHARLENE UNDERWOOD DEALT WITH death often in her job. That morning, before the call had come from Richard, she’d already told a patient and her husband that the biopsy taken the week before showed that her cancer had returned after a four-year remission. She’d been so empathetic, so comforting as she offered tissue and pamphlets…

  P. C. Zick

  April 4, 2023

  Books by P. C. Zick, New Release Announcements, Ramblings of a Writer, Style and Grace

  fiction, novel, PC Zick

• MARCH 4 – MARCH FORTH

  Fifteen years ago today on March 4, 2008, the first of my four older brothers died. By his own hand. He left behind questions with no answers as I struggled to fight my guilt. But I kept marching forth once I pulled myself off the floor and stopped screaming. I wrote about it several years…

  P. C. Zick

  March 4, 2023

  mindfulness, Ramblings of a Writer, Style and Grace

  death of a sibling, living life, mindfulness, P.C. Zick, Robin Williams, suicide, Tallahassee, understanding depression, Willie Nelson

• Can’t See the President for the Beer

  Jimmy Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his humanitarian work around the world. On a trip through Georgia late that year, we decided to make a detour through Plains, Georgia, to see the small town where President Carter and his wife still lived. My travel companion–my now ex-husband–and I entered the small…

  P. C. Zick

  February 20, 2023

  mindfulness, Style and Grace

  Georgia, Habitat for Humanity, Jimmy Carter, mindfulness, Nobel Peace Prize, Plains, President

• LIFE PASSES AND ANOTHER REPLACES IT

  

  Today marks the 36th anniversary of my father’s death. He passed away around noon on August 29, 1981. I find it difficult to comprehend–how could it be so long ago when it seems as if we last spoke only yesterday? But it has been that long. Recently, I wrote about the months leading up to…

  P. C. Zick

  August 29, 2017

  New Release Announcements, Ramblings of a Writer, Style and Grace

  circle of life, collection of essays, death, death and dying, death of a parent, nonfiction essays, P.C. Zick

• Author’s Blog Chain

  It’s my pleasure today to participate in the Author’s Blog Chain. Francis Guenette tagged me on her blog, Disappearing in Plain Sight. I also reviewed her delightful novel, Disappearing in Plain Sight. Please visit her blog. She writes thoughtful pieces on the process of becoming and sustaining a career as an Indie Author. I’ve found many…

  P. C. Zick

  January 27, 2014

  Ramblings of a Writer, Style and Grace

  amazon.com, Anne Rivers Siddons, authors, Carl Haissen, characters, environment, fiction, Florida, Florida environment, Florida fiction, Indie Authors, Mali, novel, Rachel Carson, science fiction, writers

• How Much Background Is Too Much in a Novel?

  By Patricia Zick @PCZick I’m happily working away at the new novel these days. When I wrote the original concept back in 2006, I provided lots of background research on Florida and the Everglades. That’s the way I’ve always written, even when I was a reporter. I regurgitated all the new and old knowledge onto…

  P. C. Zick

  July 22, 2013

  Ramblings of a Writer, Style and Grace, Writing Ideas, Writing Tips

  authors, characters, editing, fiction, first draft, novel, rough drafts, writers, writing

• Writing Rules – Simple and True

  By Patricia Zick @PCZick When I taught high school English, I always had at least one student – usually a female – who concentrated more on her presentation than the substance of her work. When the term paper was due, I’d receive a beautiful folder with lots of clip art designs on the cover. I…

  P. C. Zick

  February 28, 2013

  Ramblings of a Writer, Style and Grace, Writing Tips

  authors, blog, English, fiction, grammar, J.D. Salinger, novel, The Catcher in the Rye, traditional publishing, writers, writing

• A Hemingway Feast

  By Patricia Zick @PCZick Confession time:  I’ve never been a great fan of Ernest Hemingway’s writing. It leaves me cold. That’s not to say he isn’t a brilliant writer; I’m only saying his style of writing is not my favorite. I go more for Fitzgerald and Steinbeck. Nonetheless, I longed to read A Moveable Feast,…

  P. C. Zick

  January 17, 2013

  Ramblings of a Writer, Style and Grace, Writing Ideas

  authors, characters, Ernest Heminway, Ezra Pound, F. Scott Fitzgerald, fiction, Gertrude Stein, John Steinbeck, novels, Paris 1920s, writers, writing

• Two Male Authors and Their Books

  By Patricia Zick @PCZick Two books, two male authors, and two similar disillusioned looks at love kept me reading late into the night recently. I admit I read books written by women with intriguing female protagonists most of the time. It’s my preferred choice because I’m a female author who creates female protagonists in pursuit…

  P. C. Zick

  December 13, 2012

  Ramblings of a Writer, Style and Grace

  authors, characters, Douglas Kennedy, Ernest Hemingway, fiction, Jeffrey Eugenides, Leaving the World, novels, The Bonfire of the Vanities, The Marriage Plot, Tom Wolfe, writers

• Remembering the Moment

    By Patricia Zick @PCZick I watched a documentary recently about pursuing a dream. The Back Nine revealed much more than the story of one man going for the impossible. The piece chronicles the life of Jon Fitzgerald, who at the age of forty decides to pursue his dream of playing professional golf. Almost everyone,…

  P. C. Zick

  October 19, 2012

  Ramblings of a Writer, Style and Grace

  authors, Back Nine, documentary, golf, novel, writers, writing, writing flow