Ticking Clocks

An essay of mine was published yesterday, two days ahead of the inauguration, in the MetroWest Daily News. So far, this link is actually working without a subscription, but in case it doesn’t work for you, here it is: https://www.metrowestdailynews.com/story/opinion/columns/2025/01/18/plymouth-woman-fears-the-added-pressure-of-trump-presidency-opinion-columnist/77671366007/

If you don’t have or want a subscription, here’s the article:

Ticking Clocks as published 1-18-25Download

Feel-Good Must Read!

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus is my current “most huggable” book. It’s a jump-up-and-down, fist-in-the-air, triumphant (ultimately) feel-good book that leaves mere banner-waving “feminism” in the dust. Scathingly perceptive and human, hilarious and poignantly sad by turns, it’s an absolute “must read,” if you don’t want people to narrow their eyes and say, “What is WRONG with you?” Because if you don’t love Elizabeth Zott, her daughter Mad, and dog Six-Thirty, there is something very wrong with you. 
I give it 5 gigantic gold stars!

WARNING: it’s best not to read it a) on public transit, b) in a restaurant (for hygienic reasons), and/or c) too far from a toilet, unless you’re wearing Depends.

https://www.amazon.com/Lessons-Chemistry-Novel-Bonnie-Garmus/dp/038554734X

’Nother update!

Just got the book (The Fables Next Door) with my new story, “Serving the Public,” in it and was blown away to find there are COLORED illustrations inside for each story! So please remember, they plan to reprint in July with B&W interiors. Order now and get the full experience! (The price dropped, too). I AM SO THRILLED!

Will post images of my story’s illustration as soon as I get them from the editor, so you can see how much FUN this book is.

(This story may be one of the funniest I’ve written yet.)

And, to give you an example of some of the artwork, here are the two illustrations they made up for my story:

And below is the hilarious spoof fantasy ad sheet with my bio. There’s a different one of these for every story.

URGENT UPDATE!

If you buy your copies of The Fables Next Door before July, you’ll get the full-color issue. In July, to reduce printing costs, the interiors will switch to black and white (greyscale). So hurry up and order your copies now! Here’s the link again: https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?uzHmYMoxxYlB9sg8zxa5irzwQyKcOwZe3wul9aQ1HeF&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR00o6QcvR5hPrimvy2Im8YyB6O6woyBGC6PWQbV71neu2hkD7hzaVRiyu0_aem_ZmFrZWR1bW15MTZieXRlcw#

And look for my story, “Serving the Public.” I think you’ll be glad you did. 😉

Another Crazy Story Coming Your Way!

Yesterday, my Grimm-humored story, “Serving the Public,” was accepted by Critical Blast. It will published sometime in May in their cool anthology, The Fables Next Door. Watch their fun trailer on the link and stay tuned! https://www.criticalblast.com/content/publishing
Hint: what would a senior community for retired fairy tale characters be like? (And what might they do to keep themselves occupied?)

“Staying on Tiptoes” is live!

My essay went live as promised (or threatened) Monday, March 11, 2024 on Twenty-two Twenty-eight‘s e-zine. It’s dedicated to the person who inspired the piece, one of the most awesome women I know: Sandy Cohen.
You can read it here: https://www.twentytwotwentyeight.com/single-post/essay-standing-on-tiptoes-by-laurie-hall

Please note: my title was inadvertently changed in publication to “Standing on Tiptoes,” rather than “Staying on Tiptoes,” as I’d written it. The editor has graciously corrected it now. Although the link still says “standing,” when you click on it you will now see the corrected version.
Update: 3/18/24: Unfortunately, the essay was only available for free reading for one week. So to my Stories section to read the full thing.