Category Archives: writing

Not a poet

April 30, 2020writingsusanmanzke

When I started writing (late teens and early twenties) I wasn’t sure what I wanted to write. I just knew I did.

At one point, I thought poetry looked easy. Poems were short, or at least the ones I read were. So I tried my hand at poetry, writing in a notebook, and typing some out.

So you won’t have to strain your eyes reading the poem in the photo. Here it is:

Sorry

Sorry for the words I said.

Sorry for the things I did.

Sorry when I tried to stay.

Sorry that I went away.

Sorry when I left home.

Sorry while I’m left to roam.

Sorry when I’m all alone.

But most of all

Sorry that I wrote this poem.

I hope you are smiling at the young me trying to be a poet. There are other poems, just as terrible. Good thing I redirected myself away from poetry. It just wasn’t a good fit.

Don’t forget to check out my Youtube.com channel where I’m reading columns from the early years.

Meeting author Michael Perry

February 13, 2020Friends, fun, Memories, writingsusanmanzke

Snow last night almost kept me home. If it wasn’t for two good friends (Jennifer and Doris) I wouldn’t have gone to Green Bay to hear Michael Perry speak.

GreenStone’s Ladies Day Out is always around Valentine’s Day. I hesitated to be among all the hearts and flowers. Yet, I really wanted to hear Michael speak again.

Bob and I were both fans of Michael’s writings, enjoying his wit and wisdom. We really liked listening to his recorded books together.

It took a lot to force myself out of the house this morning, but I’m happy I did.

It wasn’t until the end of the morning that I had tears when two of my column readers came to me to give me hugs and send their sympathy about Bob. They were sweet ladies. I guess the hearts and flowers finally got to me.

From kitchen to living room

February 7, 2020Columns, writingsusanmanzke

I’ve been blogging about working on a book consisting of my first two years of columns. Words in My Pocket from 1980-1981 is just about ready. Still, I need help. I’m not printing anything out and wasting paper and postage. Instead, I’m looking for editing from across the Internet.

I tried sending my book WORD file via email to my friend Joyce in Illinois, but I kept getting error messages saying the file was too big.

I cut the file in half and managed to email part 2 to Joyce, but my Internet balked when it came to the first half. I don’t know why. (Being in the country, my internet is DSL. That means it is slow compared to cable, but it’s what I have.)

We finally used Google Documents and shared the whole book file. It took us a little while to figure this sharing out, but after finally connecting we’re going gangbusters.

Now if Joyce has time to check over my manuscript and find mistakes, I can see her comments right away.

This modern way to connect with the Internet is great.

It won’t be long when this is off the computer and in book form.

Stay tuned for updates.

Writing?

January 27, 2020writingsusanmanzke

As we are past Bob’s memorial celebration, I now have to think of other things, like writing.

I have multiple collections of column books started. I guess now is the time to finish one or two.

The trouble is I have to type in all my columns and then find a few photos to go inside. Both seem to be chores but have to be done if I want to save our stories for our family.

Since my old laptop is past its prime, I’m having trouble searching through its depths for the book manuscripts I had started.

It’s not easy updating to a different computer, learning about it, and trying to match up to the old files, too. Ugh! Technology is great when I can get it to work for me.

Farmer’s Market sale

July 16, 2019creativity, writingsusanmanzke

I’m very tired after our time today at the Seymour Farmer’s Market. The weather wasn’t too bad. We had a breeze. It wasn’t until we got home that it got steamy outside.

The big news today is that I made my first sale. Actually, two sales!

One pressed flower bookmark went and the big news is that one of my books was purchased.

Can you guess which one?

Barley Soup and Slug Spit was my first sale at the Farmer’s Market. I hope the person who purchased it gives me a good review.

Bob and I are happy to be home and ready to put our feet up, basking in the brightness of our big, huge, gigantic sale.

Susan Manzke

Writer, Speaker, All-Around Good Person