our stories, ourselves

Roadmaps

“Scars remind us where we’ve been. They don’t have to dictate where we’re going.”This quotation is from the senior behavioral analyst on the TV show, Criminal Minds. It’s a series I love because it delves so deeply into some intense stories, relationships, feelings,...

Birth Day

When I was a child, my birthday was a day filled with a carousel ride in Central Park, chocolate cupcakes, the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company or the Paper Bag Players, pin-the-tail-on-the-mouse, and friends and family. As I’ve gotten older, my birthday’s been a day of...

The Voice of Memory

The characters in our stories speak to us; they urge us to listen to them, care about them, tell their stories; breathe life into them and be their voice. Sometimes these characters are gentle, tapping lightly on our shoulder, allowing us to glimpse them out of the...

In honor of poetry month: CHARLES

CHARLES gray flannel suit a milky white shirt a handsome and sleek-perfect fit with supple suede shoes and cream velvet gloves his style has become such a habit a sly backward glance then out of the house he folds himself into the shadows accustomed to night...

Through the Door of Our Past

New York City in the late 1960s and early 1970s was a hard place to live—it was a volatile city reacting to the dynamics of the Civil Rights movement, the Women’s movement, and the Vietnam War; it was a city crippled by social disorder, struggling to merge its...

Spring Cleaning

It’s just getting on the time of year when we’re inclined to do a little “spring cleaning” – sorting out our closets, putting away the boots, moving the T-shirts up and the sweaters down, throwing off the blankets and quilts, opening the windows to let air in, holding...

drydenbks LLC

drydenbks LLC: emma d dryden’s company offers editorial & publishing consultancy services to children’s book creators & producers. www.drydenbks.com