I Could Have Loved Him Better
My husband John has been dead over two years now. His death feels as if he just stepped out of the room; at the same time his death feels as if it happened a lifetime ago. I have written about…Continue Reading →
Recent Books by Ellen Herbert
THE LAST GOVERMENT GIRL
Winner of the Maryland Writer's Association 2014 Novel Award
Published by Apprentice House
On Sale at Amazon
FALLING WOMEN & OTHER STORIES
Published by Shelfstealers
On Sale at Amazon | more
From a Period to a Colon: Love
Picture Dan and me in my backyard at three in the morning. Rain pelts us. Dan is in my window-well, standing ankle-deep in water. He sends a bucket down then lifts the bucket to me. I carry the bucket across…Continue Reading →
Urban Pioneers on Dupont Circle
In 1971, two months after graduating from college and getting married, Pete and I moved to Washington, DC. Our first address was a basement in Glover Park on a road called Tunlaw, walnut spelled backward. In order to enter our…Continue Reading →
Our Bluest Day: November 14, 2015
My husband John Henry Herbert died at 4:38 AM. The hospice did not call me until after 7 with the news. I called JJ, our son, who took the Metro to East Falls Church, where I picked him up. At…Continue Reading →
Adventures on Match.com
In the winter of 2017, I signed on with Match.com. You may wonder: what possessed me? I had been a widow for over a year. Ours was a difficult marriage, yet John and I stayed together for over 36 years…Continue Reading →
In the summer of the odd years
Once upon a time we Delta Zetas lived under the same roof in that funny white house on Fifth Street in Greenville, NC. There we learned to use parachutes to cover the living room ceiling that was falling down. There…Continue Reading →
Negative Capability
I tell my workshop writers not to outline. Outlines are intended to keep you focused, moving from one topic to another. But the creative writer needs to take the choke collar off his imagination, so it can wander. If writers…Continue Reading →
In Memory of Us
Our bed is verdant, The beams of our house are cedars Our rafters are firs My lover has gone down to his garden To gather lilies, still I am my lover’s and my lover is mine. Song of Solomon My…Continue Reading →