Author: C. Michele Dorsey

Those Damn Drafts in the Desk Drawer

September 4, 2020
C. Michele Dorsey

Yesterday a writing colleague posted a question on social media about unpublished manuscripts she had sitting in a closet. Do you keep them or toss them out, she asked. Coincidentally, I have been working on a manuscript I wrote a number of years ago, which oddly I had made no effort to publish. It’s the story about a woman named Elise who kept whispering in my ears when I was cooking in my kitchen. I was busy working on a mystery series at the time, so I kept trying to shoo her away, but Elise would not let go of me until I wrote her story. It turned out to be a romantic comedy, a genre I hadn’t attempted before. I enjoyed Elise and the cast of characters supporting her, yet the book did not fit into my plan at the time. We all know what’s happened to plans. For me, the pandemic preceded by a couple of killer hurricanes turned my life into a chopped more than a tossed salad. So be it. You land where you’re planted and try to bloom. Elise has continued to gnaw at me since I placed her in a desk drawer. “Let me […]

July 16, 2020
C. Michele Dorsey

Instead of staying indoors and watching Hamilton during the July fourth weekend, I practiced social distancing by heading for the hammock and a summer read. I chose The Guest List by Lucy Foley, which is set on an island off the west coast of Ireland. I’m very partial to islands, having written two books set on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. I’m also a huge fan of the Wild Atlantic Way where I traveled last year and was eager to return, albeit by hammock. The Guest List takes place during an elaborate and exclusive weekend wedding when an unexpected coastal storm strikes. Weddings are notorious for high conflict, so naturally, a murder takes place. With so much to recommend it, you won’t be surprised to hear that I loved the book. Foley is a gifted writer, equally as talented at describing setting dripping with atmosphere as she is at creating complex characters, who simultaneously can be flawed yet likable and sympathetic. She manages to transport her readers deftly to the place she wants them to experience the story and in the shoes of the character she wants them to be standing in. Now I understand why it’s called […]

May 29, 2020
C. Michele Dorsey

This week I will be writing thank you notes inspired during the solitude a pandemic brings. Dear Nurses, Doctors, Lab Technicians, EMT’s, Hospital Workers, I’ve waited until the end of the week to write a thank you note to the medical heroes who have served us during the Pandemic, not because you are less deserving, but because I really can’t find the words to do it justice. I’ll confess that in my earlier professional life, I was a nurse for ten years. I always worked in the community, rather than on the front lines in a hospital. It takes a very special person to work with acutely ill persons. I am not made of that stuff and have the utmost respect and admiration for those who do even in the “old normal,” as opposed to the “new normal” we are looking to enter. Most of us witnessed the accounts of doctors and nurses describing the challenges of being thrown into the coronavirus crisis with little warning. How they managed to report for work day after day for shifts that are long even under normal circumstances is unimaginable to me. Leaving your own loved ones to give direct care to people […]

May 27, 2020
C. Michele Dorsey

This week I will be writing thank you notes inspired during the solitude a pandemic brings. Dear Grocery Store, Pharmacy Workers, and all Unseen Essential Workers, Before I thank you for your selfless service during the Pandemic, I need to offer a sincere and profound apology. I barely noticed you until recently. I’m sorry for my ignorance, which clearly reflects the privileged life I have led. Although I worked as a cashier in the quick checkout aisle in the now-defunct First National grocery chain when I was in high school, I apparently learned very little about what it is like to be invisible in a job. Forced to think back now, I can remember the occasional abuse and rudeness of customers and the disgusting feel of the liquid that would get on my hands from packages chicken I had to pack in bags. I admit I was terrified when I first went to the grocery store and my local CVS after fully comprehending how communicable the Coronavirus was. I wanted to dash into the store, grab my purchases, and checkout in minutes. I no longer sauntered up and down aisles exploring items I might incorporate into a recipe. I […]

May 26, 2020
C. Michele Dorsey

This week I will be writing thank you notes inspired during the solitude a pandemic brings. Dear USPS, UPS, FedEx, and Couriers everywhere, I want to thank you for your service to the people in our country during the pandemic crisis. When the realization that the Coronavirus sweeping the world had managed to penetrate the often impermeable borders of the United States, most Americans took heed. We donned masks and gloves, and against our grain, we stayed home. The implications were unimaginable. You, however, did not get to stay home and home school your children and experience the joys of baking sourdough bread. There was no binge-watching any of the series you’ve missed because you were working from dawn to dusk, reporting to warehouses to load trucks full of merchandise to deliver to people like me so I wouldn’t have to risk going to a store to buy toilet paper and be exposed to coronavirus. So thank you for the paper towels, peanut butter, puzzles, and books. But even more, thank you for allowing me the freedom to make decisions about my own personal safety that you do not get to enjoy. As a person of a certain age […]

May 25, 2020
C. Michele Dorsey

This week I will be writing thank you notes inspired by the solitude a pandemic brings. Dear Soldier, Sailor, or Anyone Who Has Served Our Nation, Today we remember those who lost their lives serving our country and so I wanted to write you a thank you note. It’s a tiny gesture when compared to the sacrifice you made for me and the generations before me and those to come. No parade, no flag display, and no wall of inscribed names can ever acknowledge the loss of you and your loved ones. We commemorate you on a single day in May that most years gets lost in cookouts and parades. It takes a pandemic when we are at a minimum confined by social distancing, to force us to focus on what the day was intended to be. Hearing the staggering numbers of the lives lost to the Coronavirus makes us wonder how we ever became numb to legions lost to war and duty. A single day can never be enough to acknowledge the loss of so many human lives. Those fallen are denied the fullness of a life the rest of us often take for granted. Their loved ones are […]

April 10, 2020
C. Michele Dorsey

Thank you to the helpers.

April 9, 2020
C. Michele Dorsey

Never before have words been as crucial as in the time of Coronavirus. We are clamoring for information and advice, but whose words do you trust when your life may depend on them? My money is on trusted public health icon, Dr. Anthony Fauci, an American physician and immunologist who has served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984. His unbending altruism places the health of the American people above all. Here are some of Dr. Fauci’s own words. It’s much easier to accept the hard-hitting truth when it comes from someone you trust. “I have no ideology. My ideology is health.” “I take the tack that I will say what’s true and whatever happens, happens,” “What we have right now is something that’s very different and very acute and very threatening. And the reason people are getting anxiety about it—in some respects, appropriately so—is because it seems that no one is safe from this. It’s a diffuse respiratory illness that has a high degree of morbidity and mortality, particularly among certain vulnerable populations, like the elderly and those with underlying conditions. This is unprecedented. I’ve been doing this a long time, and I’ve […]

April 8, 2020
C. Michele Dorsey

For reasons that seem to transcend politics, people across the nation have turned to Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York during the Covid-19 pandemic crisis. Tuning into his daily briefings has become a national tonic. I have been right there, every day affixed to my television as I listen to the one leader, someone I had no particular affection for before, that I have grown to trust. Why? Because “my friends” (how Cuomo addresses us), I need to hear his words. They convey truth, courage, and inspiration and are remarkable examples of the power of words. We desperately need to hear the truth. Only then, can we summon the courage to face the fear and challenges a pandemic brings. Here are some of Governor Cuomo’s words that have touched me: “Everyone wants to know when this will be over. The truth is: We don’t know. No one knows. We are still climbing up the mountain and we’re not sure yet when we are going to get to the other side.” We know we need to come together, but we also need leadership to guide us. The governor called the virus “the great equalizer.” His words remind us, we are all […]

April 7, 2020
C. Michele Dorsey

There’s a saying, “talk is cheap,” and that’s often the case, but in the days of Coronavirus words can powerful and inspirational. Queen Elizabeth made a rare address on Sunday, almost simultaneously as Prime Minister Boris Johnson had been hospitalized with Covid-19. Read her words and discover how she uses language to inspire, soothe, thank, and offer hope to the people of the United Kingdom. Writers will be reminded of how much words matter. Queen Elizabeth’s address: I am speaking to you at what I know is an increasingly challenging time. A time of disruption in the life of our country: a disruption that has brought grief to some, financial difficulties to many, and enormous changes to the daily lives of us all. I want to thank everyone on the NHS front line, as well as care workers and those carrying out essential roles, who selflessly continue their day-to-day duties outside the home in support of us all. I am sure the nation will join me in assuring you that what you do is appreciated and every hour of your hard work brings us closer to a return to more normal times. I also want to thank those of you who […]