Laura Davis

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Deb Blackmore: Recipe for Down Home Dysfunctional Family Pie

December 10, 2014 By Laura Davis 3 Comments · · · · · · Read & Respond

Deb Blackmore is a long-time member of Laura's Friday morning feedback group, currently on hiatus as she sails around the world. She writes humor, poetry and a novel in fits and starts. She wrote this in response to Laura's prompt to create a recipe. This is an old family favorite – a deeply satisfying dish that’s enough to serve a crowd. It’s full to the brim with simmering resentments, sly sarcasm, back biting and betrayals -- all covered in a crispy fat-laden crust that will make everyone feel guilty for enjoying it with such gusto. First, pre-heat your oven to roaring hot. It should nearly singe your eyebrows off when you open it to take a peek.  This pie is best half-baked, blackened around ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Featured Writers

Michael Dorenzo: My Personal Ten Commandments

September 23, 2014 By Laura Davis 2 Comments · · · · · · Read & Respond

Michael Dorenzo is a member of the Wednesday morning writing practice group and has attended many of Laura's classes and retreats over the year. She wrote this piece in response to the prompt, "Write Your Own Personal Ten Commandments." 1. Thou shalt not scream at thy mother even when it seems like an appropriate response to her telling you every detail of her day: each conversation she had with her love interest, what she ate, did not eat, did, felt, every moment, over and over. Every day. More than once. 2. Thou shalt have dogs. Big beautiful companions with shiny coats to sleep with-Furry, loving, smiling ancient jackal grins, stinky, dangerous creatures. Thou shalt love them. 3. Thou shalt be kind to strangers and be open to their pain, their joy, your moment with them and ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Featured Writers

The Rooster

April 29, 2014 By Laura Davis 3 Comments · · · · · · Read & Respond

Julie Sheehan lives in Livermore and has attended many of Laura's writing retreats. She wrote this piece during Laura's weekend retreat at Esalen in Big Sur. The prompt was, "Tell Me About The Sounds of Your Childhood." Henry was a mean Mother Fucker. I can't even remember how he came to us. Growing up on a farm, animals were always coming and going. Stray dogs showed up and we'd feed them. They'd have puppies and we'd feed them. We started with one cat and didn't get her spayed. At one point in time we had twenty-seven cats, all of which were inbred and crazy. Buttlick was my favorite. An orange cat with darker stripes who did nothing but lay in the sun on the deck all day licking his butt. He had the life. Sometimes I'd hear a gunshot over breakfast and I knew we'd be ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Featured Writers

Tery Gargiulo: My Kitchen: Circa 1968

March 29, 2014 By Laura Davis No Comments - Read & Respond

Tery Gargiulo is a member of the Wednesday morning writing practice group. She wrote this piece in response to an exercise that encouraged each writer to focus on concrete sensory detail.

I led the students through a long visualization of their childhood kitchen, asking them to look in the cupboards and in the fridge, to peer inside the pantry and to study the oven. I asked them to use all their senses--to smell, to hear, to taste, to notice the light in the room, to remember the specific foods that were there, to recall meal times and how food was prepared. To remember what was said in this room. How they felt in this room as a child. This visualization went on for twenty minutes before we wrote and the ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Featured Writers

Naomi White: Powdered Milk

March 29, 2014 By Laura Davis 1 Comment - Read & Respond

Naomi White is a member of the Tuesday night writing practice class. She wrote this piece in response to the prompt, "Write about your childhood kitchen with as much concrete, sensory detail as possible." It was a sticky Sunday afternoon in July and we had had just come home from a prayer meeting:  mom, dad, my younger sister Judith, a large handful of people in their early 20’s who lived with my family in what was called a Christian household, and I.  We filled two units of a four-plex in northern Minneapolis, shared meals and prayed together regularly. Family friends lived in the third unit and a trio of aged Swedish sisters lived across the hall from us in the fourth. Ana, Inga and Regna Gulla were ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Featured Writers

Martin Sampad Kachuck: Turbulent Kitchen Memories

March 29, 2014 By Laura Davis No Comments - Read & Respond

Martin Sampad Kachuck attended Laura's weekend retreat at Esalen in January and then joined the Wednesday morning writing practice group as part of his sabbatical from teaching. This was his response to an exercise to describe his childhood kitchen in vivid sensory detail.

During my adolescent years, the kitchen at our home in Tustin, California was a place of hurry. Not a lot of in depth cooking occurred there, nor was meal making given huge priority. The repeated routine consisted of my mother, a college English teacher, arriving home late, scurrying to “throw something together”, my father needing to be repeatedly called from his corner office fortress, my older brother shaken free from his space ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Featured Writers

Sid Roth: Ode to an Ordinary Object

February 27, 2014 By Laura Davis No Comments - Read & Respond

Sid Roth joined my Tuesday night writing class with his father on the "new student special." I loved his response to the prompt, "Ode to an Ordinary Object," and thought it was particularly fun when paired with his classmate's response (see below). 

Mr. Pencil, your uses are many. I know your ancestry; perhaps your humble beginnings from tree and mountain deep reflect your strength and resilience, and the strength and resilience you lend to me. I know the other humans despise you; they say your glyphing is faint and your point is weak. It is, however, your inner integrity and inflexibility that makes you most valuable to me. Pens, they either work or they do not. I know your failure ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Featured Writers Tagged With: creative writing, featured writers, writing practice

Shannon LaGrandier: Ode to An Ordinary Object

February 27, 2014 By Laura Davis 1 Comment - Read & Respond

Shannon LaGrandier is a committed member of the Wednesday morning writing group. She wrote this in response to the prompt: Write an Ode to an Ordinary Object. I loved it because we writers are often obsessive about our writing implements.

Oh how I love you, purple pen, let me count the ways.  The way your cursive letters splatter all over this page makes my heart skip a beat.  The way the ink flows out of your tip is like a gentle breeze grazing over my sheet.  So many words long to leave my soul.  As my heart opens to the world, you are the vehicle in which it escapes.

Each word begins to come together into sentences, paragraphs and pages.  These beautiful purple ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Featured Writers Tagged With: creative writing, featured writers, writing practice

Wendy Ledger: My Life as a Writer

January 17, 2014 By Laura Davis 13 Comments · · · · · · Read & Respond

Wendy Ledger is a student in the Tuesday evening writing practice class. When I heard her read this piece in class, I immediately asked her if I could publish it because it demonstrates so clearly how much criticism can shut a writer down--and how encouragement can buoy that writers to continue studying her craft, and most importantly, writing.

When I was a graduate student in creative writing, I took a short story course, where several times a semester, we would submit our work. Everyone took these stories home, evaluated them, and gave feedback during a scheduled class critique. Today was the day my story would be reviewed.

I had written a story ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Featured Writers

Renee Winter: Time Goes By

December 5, 2013 By Laura Davis No Comments - Read & Respond

Renee Winter is a member of the Thursday night feedback class. She is working on a series of short memoir pieces--all of which are carefully crafted to create an evocative mood. She wrote this piece in response to the prompt, "Tell me about your relationship to time."

Time. I'm aware of it. My watch is a constant reminder and I wear it every waking non-shower, non-swimming minute. I'm a scheduler. Time must be filled up; structured with activities; projects; meetings; assignments; to do's. I almost panic when a day stretches before me and nothing is on my plate. Time is a calendar; an app; a day planner; parceled into portions; slots; hours; half-hours; mornings; afternoons; evenings.

I like to control my time, but I would love ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Featured Writers

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More Featured Students?

For years, I’ve been showcasing the work of one of my students in my monthly newsletter and here on my site. If you’d like to see a complete list of the students I’ve published, with links to their work, you can find it in the Featured Student Archives. Just click the link below.

Featured Students

What is the The Writer’s Journey Roadmap?

I send out inspiring quotes and provocative writing prompts via email Tuesday. You can collect them for their own use—or you can post your writing online and enter into dialogue and conversation with a very supportive group of writers who have made this part of their weekly writing practice.

I invite you to become part of my brilliant, supportive, intimate, honest, inspiring free online community.

I hope to see you up on the Roadmap soon!

First time visitor? Click here to learn about our community.

Like this Virtual Vacation?

You can also read about Laura’s travels to:

Peru 2017

In which Laura and Karyn and 18 writers explore Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley of Peru.

Serbia 2017

In which Laura leads a workshop at the Incest Trauma Center.

Greece 2016

In which Laura explores the wonders of Crete and Santorini with a wide-eyed group of Write, Travel, Transform adventurers.

Vietnam 2015/16

In which Laura, who grew up during the Vietnam War, goes to Southeast Asia and finds out what Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia are really like today.

Commonweal 2015

A journey toward healing loss and grief in a magnificent Northern California setting.

Scotland 2015

In which Laura returns to Scotland with a new group for another jaunt through the wonders of the Scottish Highlands.

Scotland 2013

In which Laura attends the Edinburgh theatre festival and leads 14 writers to a magical retreat in the highlands of Northern Scotland.

Bali 2013

In which Laura visits Australia, and spends three weeks diving, exploring, and teaching in three regions of Bali.

Florida 2014

A journey into old age in America in which Laura brings her 86-year-old mother to Florida so she can see her last surviving sister one final time.

Mexico 2014

In which Laura attends the San Miguel Writer’s Conference and explores the artistic towns around Patzcuaro.

About Laura Davis

In the course of my career as a communicator, I have also worked as a columnist, talk show host, radio reporter, radio producer, blogger, editor, and speaker. Words have always been at the core of my work and my self-expression. Read More . . .

Photo taken by Jason Ritchey

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What People Are Saying About Laura Davis:

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Retreating with Laura: Julie Sheehan

Julie Sheehan

For many years I put off my dream of writing and traveling. I told myself the kids were too little, my husband could never survive without me, that I couldn't possibly be so selfish. I couldn't imagine realistically stepping out of all of my responsibilities and roles. Then I started attending Laura’s summer retreat at Commonweal in northern California and that became an annual gift to myself for the next three years.

When the opportunity to travel with Laura internationally came up, my Land of Later mentality said I could never pull it off. But when my friend got cancer at age 39, I decided to stop taking life and it's endless opportunities to grow, live, nurture and explore myself for granted.

My children were 6 and 9 when I began allowing myself the luxurious pleasure of taking 10 days to two weeks each year to travel abroad with Laura, to spend time with like minded, soul searching people who share a passion for living and writing, to have all my meals prepared for me, to have the space and freedom to stretch out of my cage and check in with who I am, what I want, and how best to get there.

Laura is a skilled and nurturing teacher who encourages her students to take risks, to grow as human beings, and to be vulnerable. She has provided me with a forum where I can gain all my CEUs and learn techniques on how to become a more engaging writer, all while completing yearly emotional rehab.

I return home from each of Laura’s trip a little wiser, a little more open, and a lot more compassionate. I greet my family, friends and daily life with sparkly, clean energy and a renewed patience, brought about by way of re-writing old stories that I needed to let go of. I come home ready to move forward in my life.

A retreat with Laura Davis is one of the best gifts I ever received and gave myself. It took many years to realize that I was worth the time and financial investment, but now there is no looking back.

Julie Sheehan, Livermore California

Recent Comments

  • June Radicchi on Finding Joy
  • Mary Latela on Finding Joy
  • Amy Feld on What’s in Front of Me
  • Pennie on What I Can’t Do
  • Susan on The Rooster

Recent Posts

Writing Through the Pandemic: January 26, Number 3

Who I am becoming. You can share your response to this prompt below. ... [Continue Reading]

Other Posts:

  • Writing Through the Pandemic: January 26, Number 2
  • Writing Through the Pandemic: January 26, Number 1
  • Finding Joy

Writing Retreats

Whether you are a beginner, an established writer, a published author, or are looking for a creative vacation with your spouse…I have a retreat for you.

Read more . . .

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