This is a short story I wrote over 30 years ago for my high school literary magazine. It won the prize for the best entry. I am thinking of revising it for submission to a literary magazine, so I would love some constructive suggestions from my writer/editor friends.
The Story That Was Finally Told
By Tammy Reynolds (aka Tammy L. Hensel)
The children crowded around the old man like birds waiting to be fed.
"Tell us a story, Papa, please!"
Papa, can tell you a story later, it's time for your nap," said their mother as she herded the children out of the room.
Nathan McHannon lay back in the comfortable armchair which was as ancient as the old man himself. Born in the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee, he had inherited from his Scotch-Irish ancestors his bullheadedness, his authoritative manner, his compassion, and his love and loyalty to his country and family. All these qualities, plus a deep faith in God had sustained him through the storms of a changing world. His five brothers had died, making him the head of a family of three generations of nieces and nephews. Each had listened and loved his tales of his boyhood antics and struggles of a lifetime.
The old man's wrinkled, weary face was comfortably resting on the pillows; but his mind was not succumbing to the power of sleep. Instead, it had transferred to a different place and time. From the comfortable chair in his grand-niece's Texas farm to a bright mountainside - to a snowy day when he was a young man -- to Clarissa. . . .
The snow was up to Nat's knees as he made his way to Clara's house. He was filled with the foolish, unexplainable joy of a young man in love. She stood waiting for him, a pink glow on her cheeks, chestnut hair circling her face and crowning her shoulders, and her warm beautiful eyes sparkling at him from beneath coy eyelashes. That was the day he had proposed. They had a wondrous time in the snow, full of secret moments and childish games. Snowball fights, snowmen, angels in the snow, skating on the pond --
The ancient mind returned to the farmhouse. The children were there, lively from their nap and clamoring for a story. Nathan looked at them, he knew this would be the last story he ever told. Opening the wrinkled old lips, he spoke in a trembling, cracked voice. When I was a young man, I knew a very beautiful girl. She was full of kindness and love for everyone. In springtime, we collected flowers and took baskets to all the sick and poor."
The old man's voice broke off here. The children were silent. They sensed something was wrong and all they could do was keep quiet.
"One day we were walking in the mountain snow. It was my idea to go skating. I thought the ice was thick enough."
The old man's eyes closed and his voice rose with great intensity.
"Don't go too far until I check the ice. Clara, come back. The ice may be too thin. Clara! Clarissa!
Ninety-eight year-old Nathan McHannon opened his eyes for the last time. He looked at his family. Then he closed his eyes again. A bright light surrounded him and he could see a figure motioning to him. He walked slowly toward it. The figure became clearer now, a flowing white gown, chestnut hair, sparkling eyes, white arms outstretched. With a leap of joy, the man went to meet his bride.
Copyright 1976 Tammy L. Reynolds All Rights Reserved
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Easter Blog Carnival
Mary Moss of the blog Divinely Designed/ sent me an invitation to participate in "an Easter blog carnival" by Angela at Becoming Me Thru Him.blogspot.com linking several Easter blogs. I linked onto Angela's blog, but since I didn't get a chance to write a new Easter themed blog this year, I want to direct you to several I posted last year. The links are in my blog archives to the right side of my blog. The first is one posted in January 2008 that includes my original dramatic presentation on the testimony of Mary Magdalene. Then if you click on March, you will find two blogs entitled "Consider The Cross" and "Jesus The Ultimate Fall Guy." Feel free to comment on those blogs.
If you have a post about the true meaning of Easter or want to read some really inspirational blogs, please visit Becoming Me Thru Him.blogspot.com to share in the fun.
Happy Easter everyone. HE IS RISEN!!!
If you have a post about the true meaning of Easter or want to read some really inspirational blogs, please visit Becoming Me Thru Him.blogspot.com to share in the fun.
Happy Easter everyone. HE IS RISEN!!!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Things You Need To Know If You Have A Blog Or Profile Site
By Tammy L. Hensel
As a journalism student at Baylor I took a basic course in media law which covered much on the “cans” and “cannots” of publishing. I have tried to keep up with changes to these laws through years, but I didn't think about how they applied to the Internet until a couple of years ago when I joined Myspace. (Of course the Internet wasn’t around when I was in college, so it wasn’t covered in my course.) As I viewed profiles, read blog comments and bulletins, I was amazed at how much potential for privacy and libel lawsuits I saw there. Here are a few things everyone who has an Internet site needs to know.
Your profile is your newspaper.
Publishing something on an internet site or forum is like publishing it in a newspaper or book. You are in a sense writing your autobiography on your profile or blog. You own the copyright to all original material you post. No one may copy it or forward it to anyone else without your express permission. But the content does become public information because you are making yourself a public figure. That means that others may gain information about you from your sites and use it as long as they don’t copy it word for word, without attributing it to you. More and more employers, journalists, and law enforcement officers are using Internet social sites as sources for information in their investigations. That is legal because it is public information, regardless of your “privacy settings.”
Keep from crossing the line between free speech and privacy laws.
Invasion of privacy and libel laws that pertain to all media also apply to profile sites and blogs. I have noticed much on the social sites that could qualify as violations of these laws. For the most part this happens because people are just uninformed and not used to thinking like a journalist. They think anything and everything is covered by the right to “free speech.” Or they think of it as private chatter. But privacy and libel laws draw a line as to what may be published about a another person. Sometimes it takes the courts to decide when the line is crossed. I foresee that in the future we will see more and more lawsuits brought against people for things they post on Internet social sites and blogs. So be careful!
The only private Internet communications are emails. In my research I discovered that it violates privacy law to forward emails without permission. Don’t forward or post on your blog anything that doesn’t have express permission in it, such as the words “please forward.” Never forward or even quote from a private letter without permission from the other person.
Privacy and copyright laws apply to your pics too.
You find a box of old school photos and you want to post them on your Facebook page to share with your old friends. However, you are in contact with some of the people, so you can't get permission. My advice is DON’T POST IT! You do own the copyright to that photo because you took it. But privacy law prohibits the publishing in a public forum photos without the permission of the subject. You never know what may embarrass another person.
You do not own the copyright to photos you did not take or inherit, even if you purchased them. So when you get that family portrait made, be sure and ask the photographer for permission to upload the photo to your website. There are photo and graphics sharing sites, such as photobucket, for people to post photos they want to share with others. Remember when you share your photos there you are granting others royalty-free permission to use your photo. I think most of these sites have certain usage restrictions to which members agree. Most stipulate that you cannot use the photos for commercial purposes. Usually the site will have their name attached to the pictures, so people will know where you got them. If there is not you should protect yourself by saying where you got the photo. Never copy a photo or a logo from a site that does not specifically give permission for it.
Be an informed participant!
The Internet is a fun and useful tool for social interaction, networking, and exchanging information. Just remember that the key to avoiding problems is to be informed.
Resources
A good resource I recently purchased is The Law (in plain English) for Writers by Leonard D. DeBoff and Bert P. Krages, II.
Here are some Internet articles I found:
Common Questions & Answers About Copyrights: A Simple Guide for Photographers, Artists, Illustrators, Writers, Musicians and Other Creative Individuals By Andrew "Drew" Epstein
Copyright and the Internet By Virginia Montecino
The Law for Photographers: Do I Need Permission? By Dianne Brinson, a copyright attorney, for PhotoSecrets
Copying Old Photographs: Infringement of Copyright Laws?
If you know of any other good resources, please share them in comments.
As a journalism student at Baylor I took a basic course in media law which covered much on the “cans” and “cannots” of publishing. I have tried to keep up with changes to these laws through years, but I didn't think about how they applied to the Internet until a couple of years ago when I joined Myspace. (Of course the Internet wasn’t around when I was in college, so it wasn’t covered in my course.) As I viewed profiles, read blog comments and bulletins, I was amazed at how much potential for privacy and libel lawsuits I saw there. Here are a few things everyone who has an Internet site needs to know.
Your profile is your newspaper.
Publishing something on an internet site or forum is like publishing it in a newspaper or book. You are in a sense writing your autobiography on your profile or blog. You own the copyright to all original material you post. No one may copy it or forward it to anyone else without your express permission. But the content does become public information because you are making yourself a public figure. That means that others may gain information about you from your sites and use it as long as they don’t copy it word for word, without attributing it to you. More and more employers, journalists, and law enforcement officers are using Internet social sites as sources for information in their investigations. That is legal because it is public information, regardless of your “privacy settings.”
Keep from crossing the line between free speech and privacy laws.
Invasion of privacy and libel laws that pertain to all media also apply to profile sites and blogs. I have noticed much on the social sites that could qualify as violations of these laws. For the most part this happens because people are just uninformed and not used to thinking like a journalist. They think anything and everything is covered by the right to “free speech.” Or they think of it as private chatter. But privacy and libel laws draw a line as to what may be published about a another person. Sometimes it takes the courts to decide when the line is crossed. I foresee that in the future we will see more and more lawsuits brought against people for things they post on Internet social sites and blogs. So be careful!
The only private Internet communications are emails. In my research I discovered that it violates privacy law to forward emails without permission. Don’t forward or post on your blog anything that doesn’t have express permission in it, such as the words “please forward.” Never forward or even quote from a private letter without permission from the other person.
Privacy and copyright laws apply to your pics too.
You find a box of old school photos and you want to post them on your Facebook page to share with your old friends. However, you are in contact with some of the people, so you can't get permission. My advice is DON’T POST IT! You do own the copyright to that photo because you took it. But privacy law prohibits the publishing in a public forum photos without the permission of the subject. You never know what may embarrass another person.
You do not own the copyright to photos you did not take or inherit, even if you purchased them. So when you get that family portrait made, be sure and ask the photographer for permission to upload the photo to your website. There are photo and graphics sharing sites, such as photobucket, for people to post photos they want to share with others. Remember when you share your photos there you are granting others royalty-free permission to use your photo. I think most of these sites have certain usage restrictions to which members agree. Most stipulate that you cannot use the photos for commercial purposes. Usually the site will have their name attached to the pictures, so people will know where you got them. If there is not you should protect yourself by saying where you got the photo. Never copy a photo or a logo from a site that does not specifically give permission for it.
Be an informed participant!
The Internet is a fun and useful tool for social interaction, networking, and exchanging information. Just remember that the key to avoiding problems is to be informed.
Resources
A good resource I recently purchased is The Law (in plain English) for Writers by Leonard D. DeBoff and Bert P. Krages, II.
Here are some Internet articles I found:
Common Questions & Answers About Copyrights: A Simple Guide for Photographers, Artists, Illustrators, Writers, Musicians and Other Creative Individuals By Andrew "Drew" Epstein
Copyright and the Internet By Virginia Montecino
The Law for Photographers: Do I Need Permission? By Dianne Brinson, a copyright attorney, for PhotoSecrets
Copying Old Photographs: Infringement of Copyright Laws?
If you know of any other good resources, please share them in comments.
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