Author Archives: patsypridgen

Remember my last post about anachronisms, those careless references in fiction to things that belong to another time? Writing Ms. Dee Ann, a novel set in 1979, was fun—I could refer to Jimmy Carter being in the White House, for … Continue reading →

In college, while other students were learning skills that would help them earn a living one day, we English majors would sit around in our classes looking for anachronisms in literature. An anachronism is something that appears in a time where … Continue reading →

Happy St. Patrick’s Day. The luck of the Irish was certainly with me the day I joined the Rocky Mount Writers’ Guild.  We’re a diverse group of people with one thing in common:  we like to write. There are usually … Continue reading →

Wow, talk about debunking a hero. I have always admired Albert Einstein—who hasn’t—but after reading The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict, I’ve taken a second look at the scientist most often credited with E=MC2. The book is fiction, but it is … Continue reading →

Thirteen years ago, when my newly formed book club was mapping out its first year of reading, one of our original members declared, “Okay, ladies, just let it be known:  I’ll read anything except throbbing thighs and heaving bosoms.”  We … Continue reading →

As that great philosopher Jimmy Buffett sings, “If we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane.”  I so agree. I often incorporate humor in my writing by depicting the absurdity of life.  And in the South, you don’t have to … Continue reading →