Linda K Sienkiewicz

Writing life, line by line

Book Art: Crafting Paper Roses

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This fabulous table centerpiece from the wedding reception of an English teacher bride and her book-loving groom was made from a stack of books tied with a ribbon and topped with a hand-crafted paper rose. Creating paper roses from book pages is a surprisingly easy art project, even if you don't consider yourself particularly artsy. It's a fun and creative craft project for kids too. My … [Read more...]

Rod McKuen Altered Book

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King of Kitsch? Former US Poet Laureate said it was irrelevant to even speak of Rod McKuen as a poet. Pulitzer Prize-winning critic called McKuen's work gooey schmaltz. Newsweek magazine called him the King of Kitsch. In Arts and Entertainment Fads, Frank W. Hoffmann called McKuen's poetry "verse that drawled in country cadences from one shapeless line to the … [Read more...]

Let your children be who they are

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Support comes in different forms I was sharing some fabulous photos of my mother, who passed away in 2013, when a childhood friend asked me if she was supportive of my writing. My first impulse was yes. Then I had to rethink the question. Was she really? It didn't always seem so. It's true my mother more than tolerated my creative pursuits. She supplied me with pencils, paints, scissors, … [Read more...]

Derek’s Black Hill Spruce

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Nature can help us understand so many things about life. My eldest child took his own life in the fall of 2011 at age thirty two. As a mother, no matter how many counselors, doctors and friends tell you suicide isn’t the parent’s fault, you can’t help but wonder what you did wrong. Didn’t I cuddle him enough? Should I have been stricter. Was I too strict? The bottom line was: I failed as a … [Read more...]

A Writer Visits Père Lachaise

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  I feel as if I only touched the surface of the beauty of this extraordinary cemetery in Paris. For a writer, Père Lachaise is a magical place of wonder and inspiration at every turn. I'm glad we took a tour, but even the guide told us there isn't enough time to see everything.  The most romantic story is the one of Abelard and Heloise. A few … [Read more...]