by AnnSheybani | Mar 14, 2016 | Life, Reading
The last time I came back to the States for vacation while living in Iran, I got together with some old friends and regaled them with my latest in-law stories. I recounted the one about my mother-in-law, who, when staying with us in our tiny dorm room for months on...
by AnnSheybani | Feb 26, 2016 | Life
Walt and I have been spent the last week lying around poolside. (BTW, I have to look up laying vs lying every goddamn time. Here’s a link that explains the difference, for your convenience.) On the surface, this sounds pretty dreamy, but after a few days of...
by AnnSheybani | Feb 8, 2016 | Life, Reading, Writing, writing lessons
When I first began writing and presenting my short stories about Iran, people in my workshop class looked nervous. No doubt remembering the fatwa placed on Salmon Rushdie’s head for his Satanic Verses, they asked me, “Don’t you think Iranians might...
by AnnSheybani | Jan 25, 2016 | Life, life transitions, tenacity
Walt and I are finally cleaning out the basements (yes, that’s a plural); and the over-stuffed three-car garage; and the attics (again, the plural); and all of the closets; and each of the seven, count them, seven bedrooms. I’m not following Marie...
by AnnSheybani | Jan 11, 2016 | Adult Child of Alcholic, Alcoholic rules, Life
I came across the perfect statement this morning in an old journal: Stop trying to control everybody and everything. I’ve spent my life trying to control my surroundings and the people in it. Like a lot of other unhealthy compulsions, I chalk this one up to my...
by AnnSheybani | Dec 28, 2015 | Life, Writing
I learn so much from my writing clients. Sometimes I think I should be paying them. After reading this segment from Kyrsten Barrett’s soon to be published book, well, I realized she was speaking to me. That’s why I pulled my memoir out of the drawer after...
