In Laura’s Words
I write to shine a light on a dim or otherwise pitch black corner…to provide relief for myself and others. It’s the light that I am looking for. And the wonder it illuminates.
May my words land in your heart.
yours, Laura
Sentimental Recipes: Pomarola Sauce
In my book, THIS IS NOT THE STORY YOU THINK IT IS, I include a recipe that I hold near and dear. Not because it’s particularly hard or original, but because of what it represents to me. It is the tomato sauce commonly made in the summer by Tuscans and put up in jars for the winter. They call it the Pomarola sauce, and for it they use the freshest...
Phobia (Faux-bia?)
Me and the Otis Company. By Laura Munson I like to think of myself as a level-headed person. Calm in crisis. Rational in an argument. I can multi-task with fluidity and be proud of the results. I generally go into group problem-solving situations with instant leadership tendencies. I’m happy to sit in the Exit seat. The driver’s seat. Take the...
The heart language of an Italian family.
In 1986, I sat in a classroom at the Syracuse University school, in the Piazza Savonarola in Florence, Italy, waiting to meet the people who would be my host parents for the next year of my life. I was nervous. I didn’t speak a word of Italian. I’d chosen Florence precisely for the art and the gut-spawned sense that it would be good for me...
Back to School– a mother’s bemoanings
Mornings Like This: An Ode to Back-to-School Well, it happened. My daughter is in high school. My son in middle school. Both as of this morning. It was pretty much the way I pictured it. I woke at 6:30. I've been trying to catch up on sleep all summer so the awakening was indeed rude. But I had butterflies in my stomach because after months of...
Pimenton Obsession
Every once in awhile, I get obsessed with something. It usually involves aroma. When I was a teenager it was Christian Dior Diorissimo perfume, because it reminded me of my grandmother, and then it was Halston lotion, because it reminded me of my best friend. Then I turned to Opalescence Borghese lipstick-- I think I still have some somewhere....
The Sweet Smell of Rejection
I got a rejection yesterday. If you're a writer it's a regular occurance, I don't care who you are. But this one made me belly laugh. It was from something I submitted TWO YEARS AGO...to a well-known literary journal. By the tone of my submission letter, you can tell that I'd surrendered getting published. There is not a formal bone in its body....
Bodhisattva
Meet Bodie. My 14 year old daughter's bear. She named him on her own at age two. Not knowing anything about Bodhisattva, and if I've ever seen an enlightened relationship between one creature and another, it's with those two. I bought him when she was in utero because my father-in-law gave me some money for shopping, and I was in New York, and I...
“Taps” on Adhocmom.com
http://www.adhocmom.com/2010/08/taps-by-laura-munson-2/I had this piece posted here for a short time and took it down, because I felt it needed a new home in the proper context. With all the mommy bloggers and readers out there, I thought of Adhocmom.com and the wonderful ladies there. I wrote this 13 years ago one summer evening, after a day of...
Dog Fog
As seen in the Huffington Post When you travel across the country city-to-city, in my case on a recent book tour, you notice trends. Menus boasting beet/goat cheese/ citrus salad for instance, or a prevalence of duck confit, charcuterie, and mushroom gruyere tarts. The Flashdance look is back, which if you ask me was a hideosity the first time...
The Firefighter and the Grizzly Bear (posted May 2009)
Laura A. Munson The Firefighter and the Grizzly Bear by Laura A. Munson I sat next to a New York City firefighter this morning, at the café in town. He was visiting Montana; here to fish. “Were you—you know…there?” I said. He talked about it for a little while. I shook my head, speechless. “So, where’d you go fishing?” I asked, trying to change...
Daily Tips for Writers
I have been writing these tips daily on Twitter http://twitter.com/Lauramunson Hope they help. Be intentional. Get to know your "third eye." And don't let life infect it. Yes we mine our lives, but writing is a pause. When people ask what you do, say: I AM A WRITER. Practice saying it in front of the mirror! Find something physical that requires...
Apology. Grace.
A person from my past, with whom I'm have not kept in touch, sent me an email today, apologizing for being mean to me when we were in our teens. It was an act of generosity and integrity. I urge us all to do the same. This is the sort of pass-it-on behavior that can change the world. Think back to someone you were mean to. In the sandbox. ...
Handy: a rant inspired by the county fair
I am orignially from the city. Chicago. New York. Boston. Seattle. And a few others along the way. But I've lived in Montana for 17 years. As much as I love it, there is one issue that I just can't shake. Language. I'm not talking about the poetic license to write two word sentences and start them with And or But. I'm talking about the slow and...
“Glory Daze”
Okay-- I know it's obnoxious to post a photo of yourself when you weighed 119 pounds and all your dreams were coming true, but I want to use this newly dug out photo for my grade school alumni news as a tool of inspiration. This photo was taken in 1981 at my grade school graduation. That smile depicts THE LAST official "Glory Day" of my life...
My Guest Post on Arielle Ford’s Huffington Post Blog
My take on what it's like to finally be a published book author. It might surprise you... Write It and They Will Come She followed her heart. She wrote to live. She represents and inspires all of us who pursue our joy and find what we may not have known we were looking for. Laura Munson is the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir, This...
