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Author Archives: Doris von Tettenborn
The Story Spirals Back
I have been working on Audrey’s story for months.
I mentioned before that I thought it might be autofiction.
Nope. It slid all the way into mythical, mystical slipstream,
with brutal bits woven through.
The story was intended to be braided with myth and fear, hope and time,
memory lapses and loops, and soft humor and fairy tale fugues
to give Audrey time to heal enough to go on.… Continue reading →
Listening to Grace, my muse
I have a story to tell. It was never going to be a memoir. I reserve the right to make shit up.
“Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth.” – Albert Camus
I briefly flirted with the concept of autofiction. At first, my writing fit that frame. But then my words began to wander off the page like toddlers trailing after a puppy. … Continue reading →
Posted in Sharing My Work
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Technologically Challenged
In the midst of the rabid discussion about the role of AI in our lives, I have certainly found a use that is invaluable to me. I am definitely technology challenged. Instructions give me a headache. Words blur.
So, I will ask AI to give me instructions on how to do something on my blog, for instance. … Continue reading →
Posted in Sharing My Work
Tagged learning curve, technology challenged, wordpress confusion
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Wake up and Smell the Paints
Doris von Tettenborn
Honorable Mention Off Topic Publishing
June 2024 CNF Contest
Published Off Topic Publishing
Inspired 55+Magazine
I turned 60 last year. I still have not recovered. I spent the previous year trying to get used to the concept by changing my computer password frequently. CRAZY60, LOVELY60, NOWAY60, STUPID60, HAPPY60, CRAPPY60, FRICKIN60.
It didn’t work.… Continue reading →
Posted in Portfolio
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Bloom by Bloom, Step by Step
Doris von Tettenborn
Won Off Topic Publishing September 2023
Creative Non-Fiction contest
Published in Off Topic Publishing,
Inspired 55+Lifestyle Magazine
Recipes and Roots
The ruins of my garden were visible from the deck for some time, but I had not yet ventured outside. It was time to get a good look, see the extent of the damage, cry my tears and come up with a rebuilding plan.… Continue reading →
Posted in Portfolio
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My Father’s Dream Life
Doris von Tettenborn
Published in The Globe and Mail
July 2, 2014
My parents bought their farm in 1958. In 2013, they held the farm auction that sold the dream.
My father worked hard. If farming was rewarded by the hard work put in, my father would have been rewarded with millions in riches, instead of calloused callouses and bent over bones crippled with arthritic joints
In the dreams of my father, one or both of his sons would follow him into the family business; farming is in his blood as deeply as his German heritage.… Continue reading →
Posted in Portfolio
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Writing in the Margins
Writing in the Margins is where the story slips off the page and wanders into the back room, timelines bend, space shifts. Authors and characters might share coffee, swap gossip and argue about how the book is going. The rules of the novel don’t apply, time folds, people know they are characters in a book, and anyone can wander in at any time.… Continue reading →
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Ready or Not
The back room smells like paper and coffee. Drafts are piled in uneven towers. A laptop glows on the cluttered table like a spaceship in the middle of a used bookstore.
Doris’s finger hovers over the Publish button.
Grace leans against the filing cabinet, casual as ever, like she’s been waiting for this exact moment. “You’re overthinking again.”… Continue reading →
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Who are These People?
Doris turns to the young girl.“I don’t know you, do I?”
Before the girl can answer, a sharp cry echoes across the room.
Doris spins toward the sound. “A baby?”
Everyone starts talking at once.
The girl answers. “I’m Calliope. I was born with her.” (She points toward the crying.)
“Wait—you haven’t written even the first scene?… Continue reading →
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What Just Happened?
Doris stops. She doesn’t remember this door, or this sign. She reads it again, out loud.
Early Landfill
Room 428
NE Memory Lane
What?
Something flickers in the back corner of her mind. She shrugs it off and yanks back too hard on the knob, expecting resistance. The door swings open easily as she stumbles forward into a puff of dust and catches herself just inside.… Continue reading →
Posted in Writing In the Margins
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