You just can’t imagine how wonderful it was for me at age 94 to go back to our Southern Baptist Conference center at Ridgecrest, North Carolina and teach two workshops in Storytelling. It would seem that after many years of delving into the matter—that is the teaching of such a subject—that a teacher would exhaust every […]

        Of course, we honor all honorable men who by chance are reading this blog which is written by a woman.   I assure you it is meant for the men folks as well.  I remind you at this point that I had a father, and I also married a MAN who became […]

Hello, dear Website Friends, and happy Glorious Fourth of July 1st and I am celebrating the publishing of my new book Under the Gooseberry Bush, which is now in the publisher’s hands and will be out in just a few days!  The cover design is absolutely GREAT!  The book, of course, is a memoir, and I have […]

Standing in the brightest moonlight Like the middle of the day! Not a shadow !  And I stood there At the window; it was May And I looked out on the front yard, Saw the flower bed on the lawn And I knew that in the morning There would be at early dawn All the […]

This is March, but I’m thinking ahead to April.  I love April! On March 1 7, 1945 I was married to Frank and Richmond, Virginia puts on her most beautiful garments when April goes forth to meet May.  Here is something I wrote about these two months. April Meets May Poem written April 21st, 2005  It […]

 This is March 20th and I cannot report as I hoped that I would have the book completed and ready for the rewrite and edit.  No, it is not quite at that place yet, still I have made much progress.  I found that the years of childhood were easy to write, and even the twenties […]

Look up everybody!  Look up, Laugh, Love and Lift. Wow!  This is February and this is the month with all the goodies in it.  Already I have had a Humongus blessing. Today is the third of February, and this is a red-letter day because my friend, Larry, was baptized today! Although he has been a Christian for many years, […]

This is still 2012 for a few hours, so before the world comes to an end as for hundreds of years people have predicted it will do in 2012, I will get these few words down.                         I am always amazed at the thousands of people who will believe a Mayan prophecy, and they will make […]

An old tale rewritten by Mackie tongue-in-cheek Long long ago there lived a King who made it a rule that whenever he sneezed everyone in the whole country had to say, ‘To your very good health!”  He had all kinds of allergies and sneezed several times a day, so you can imagine what a problem […]

Today it is pouring the rain and I am sitting right next to the window. . .  I love a rainy day.  For one thing, it speaks of thirsty plants.  They love the rain and they show the world their appreciation for this heavenly shower.  They will dress the world in color and everyone will be oohing […]

IT’S ABSOLUTELY TRUE  BY HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN Note to tellers: I like the quote, “The naked truth is presentable when clothed in a story” This is as close to the oral as writing can make it, so it should be easy to tell, and humorous! That is always a plus. I also show in underlining […]

If you wish to become a storyteller for the Master, then you must get into the yoke with Him and walk in step.  In that way your stories will receive His stamp of excellence, and He will never allow the “leavening of the Pharisees” to kill the joy that he wants to give.   THINGS TO REMEMBER: […]

Here’s the place to that you will able to discuss my blog with me.

Heart to heart with Mackie               Here, on this site, I cannot use the heart language of telling. The spoken word will reveal by inflection, intonation, just exactly what the teller wants the listener to “hear” and the effect is more dynamic.  The energy required to tell a story is derived […]

Heart to heart with Mackie              The storyteller’s mind has a flying horse at its command.  Just get on it and tell it to take you into the land of make believe.  I took my first ride when I was about three years of age, and my bigger brothers and sisters took me […]

William James is credited with saying that the greatest revolution is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.  If changing the inner attitude of the mind could do it, there would be no more broken New Year resolutions!              The psychologist’s use of […]

TENDER RECOLLECTIONS   The words to an old song came to my mind this morning, and I suppose it has been hiding there behind all these other thoughts I have been entertaining. The minute it popped up I sang all these words that have kept themselves in wraps for quite a while. This is the way […]