Making a Short Story

Abstract

She turned 75 in July and believes she has used up all her material. "I feel it's the right time to stop. I used to start writing at 7 in the morning, the best hours as far as freedom goes," says the author, who had a heart bypass four years ago. "Now I'm not out of bed 'til 8:30 and by 9, I'll get a phone call. I don't have the energy I used to. "Being a writer has been such a lifelong preoccupation, I don't know what I'm going to do next. I have no other talents. Travel? The world has changed too much — it is no longer a playground." When I admire the spotted scarf, she confides that it's from a local thrift shop.