Author: Cynthia MacGregor

A recent planned trip to the hospital segued into an emergency, and the procedure I had gone in for was quickly followed by emergency surgery—major surgery. I was in the hospital for 3-1/2 miserable days, and when the surgeon’s PA finally signed me out, I was so overjoyed I broke down crying.

No, don’t be put off by the title. The subject isn’t cooking or household management. You haven’t wandered into the wrong blog. We’re still talking about writing, here—just not about books, this week. You see, I do other kinds of writing, too. One of them is plays.

When was the last time you made up a story? I am NOT talking about lies, fabrications, or to use the current term, “alternative truths.” I am not talking about the story you tell your boss about the (non-existent) flat tire you allegedly suffered with on the morning you REALLY were late to work because...

Even if you don’t own a Monopoly™ set, you may have a “Get Out of Jail Free” card you don’t know about. What am I talking about? I’m talking about overdue library books and the Amnesty Program. All too many people have overdue library books. In most cases, this is not a case of trying...

Some people, when they go out to eat, always try something new. Call them adventurous. Call them explorers. Other people, when they go out to eat, always order their favorites. My Uncle Harry, a mean tease whom I hated visiting when I was a kid, would have called them “stick-in-the-muds.”

Back when I was a kid (you remember the Dark Ages, don’t you?), teachers and many parents were down on comic books. Teachers wanted kids to read “real” books, not comics. My own mother, more than satisfied with the copious numbers of books I read, had no objection to my reading comics as long as...

Although I don’t make New Year’s resolutions myself, I’m aware that many people do. Okay, for all you readers out there who are resolution-makers, I have a suggestion for you: How about resolving to broaden the scope of your reading in 2017?

So there I was, doing something very familiar: reading one of my picturebooks to a classroom full of first-graders enrolled in an after-school program. It being close to Christmas, the book I was reading was suitably seasonal—one I had written, of course, although out of another publishing house, not Roundtable. When I had finished reading...

Still making out your Christmas shopping list? Having trouble deciding what to get some of the people you need to buy presents for? Not surprisingly, as a writer, I advocate giving books. With books, there’s no worrying about guessing wrong at size or, worse, insulting someone by buying a Large for a person who wears...

I’ve been good this year, so I know I’m not on your “naughty” list. We don’t have a chimney, but you can do as our UPS driver does and leave my presents at the front door, then knock loudly so I know to check and see what’s waiting for me.