Linda K Sienkiewicz

Writing life, line by line

What, Why, How: Author Jann Alexander

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From brushstrokes to backstories, Jann Alexander shares her stories and inspiration. What: I’m an author who specializes in time travel. My first novel, Unspoken (The Dust Series), stars historic Texas and a female character who faces down her fears in a story that's as close-to-true as fiction can get.  Why: I’ve been a creative spirit for as long as I … [Read more...]

Using Fiction to Process Real-Life Tragedy and Family Secrets

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The emotional and creative journey behind In the Context of Love—a novel inspired by unspoken truths. How do we make sense of tragedy? We live every day knowing that bad things happen--on a global and personal level. Fires burn down houses, people are laid off, friends have tragic accidents, loved ones develop addictions and get diseases we've never even heard of. How do we carry on when … [Read more...]

One Woman, Three Selves, and a Second Chance at Becoming Whole

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The Past and Future Walk Into an Elevator… A thoughtful twist on the Scrooge effect, Just Emelia by Jennifer Oko offers a modern and introspective take on personal transformation that feels both familiar and refreshingly original. In place of Dickens’s cold-hearted miser reckoning with his mortality after ghostly visits from the past, present, and future, we meet Emilia, a 47-year-old woman in … [Read more...]

Imagination as a double-edged sword

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Oh, how we suffer in our minds "We suffer more often in imagination than in reality." ~ Seneca Is there anything truer when it comes to worrying about the future, or beating ourselves up over past events? It absolutely reflects our tendency to create exaggerated scenarios of pain, failure, or loss. Imagination is one of our greatest strengths. It creates works of art and literature, … [Read more...]

How a Poet Wrote a Novel About Art, War, and Survival

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Five years and multiple messy drafts, a poet's patience is woven into a novelist's grit. The result is a haunting, layered story that spans decades, from Nazi-occupied France to the present day, unraveling the theft of beauty in a time of brutality. Karen Mulvahill and I met at a poetry retreat many years ago, enjoyed each other's company, and stayed connected through social media where I … [Read more...]