2025.08 Fiction: Historical Mystery
Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman
The transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for February 28, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from a historical mystery short story. The sirens from the single ambulance and two police cars destroyed the mid-morning tranquility of Tannersville, in the Catskill Mountains in Upstate New York. Ina Glatzer sniffed in the clean country air to see if she could identify the emergency. While she hoped no one had died, she wouldn’t mind a little excitement. Maybe a theft? Or a missing dog? Even a bank...
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2025.07 Fiction: A Fine Hand
Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman
Transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for February 21, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from a short story titled “A Fine Hand.” Lillian Gray lifted the delicate white bone china teacup to her mouth and inhaled the calming odor of red raspberry leaf tea. She never understood how something that smelled like summer and raspberries and home could taste quite so awful. She thought it tasted like musty spiders, old, dead, and slightly off. Instead of the tea, she focused on the drawing room. She...
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2025.06 Fiction, tentatively titled Action! A Saint Patrick’s Day Story
Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman
The transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for February 14, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. First, a note about this podcast: I have changed the name to “Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman, because that is much more descriptive. This is from a short story, tentatively titled “Action! A Saint Patrick’s Day Story.” The brisk wind flew off Boston Harbor, down Columbia Road in South Boston, bringing with it the salty hint of the harbor, enhanced with the delightful buttery and salty odors of...
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2025.05 Fiction: More Than a Little Misdirection
Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman
The Transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for January 31, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from a short story, tentatively titled More Than a Little Misdirection. (My fiction titles often change before I finish the story.) Closing the door behind her with a quiet snick, the dual odors of stale coffee and pizza gave Jayne Stone that roller coaster feeling in her stomach. Clearly, at least one of the team had been here, in GenResearch Security Central, for hours. Based in a nondescript four-story...
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2025.04 Volunteer to Teach Something
Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman
The Transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for January 24, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book (which now has a cover!) Volunteer to Teach Something I've mostly focused on what the audience will learn from you and how to design and deliver your presentation so the audience does learn. But speaking helps you realize what you do and do not know. I like to use speaking as the idea behind "See one, Do one, Teach one." If you've experienced something novel at...
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2025.03 Organize Internal Presentations with What, So What, Now What
Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman
The Transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for January 17, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Organize with What, So What, Now What Internal presentations require just enough value for the people who attend or participate. While I still recommend all the ideas in Design-your-talk, you might have just ten or fifteen minutes for this internal presentation. In that case, consider this as a way to organize your thoughts: * What: The "what" question clarifies...
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2025.02 Start Your Public Speaking with Internal Presentations
Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman
The Transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for January 10, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Start Your Public Speaking with Internal Presentations Which presentations "should" you start with? Consider these alternatives: Start with the presentations that offer *you* the least value as an attendee or participant. Volunteer to change them. Offer a brief presentation about what you know that you think other people should know. (This might be at a team meeting...
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2025.01 Pick Several People to Make Eye Contact With
Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman
The Transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for January 3, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Pick Several People to Make Eye Contact With No speaker can look at "everyone" in the audience. Instead of trying to do so, consider finding several key people to make eye contact with. I choose a couple of people in the front, a couple of people to my right, one or two in the center, and one or two on my left. Since I'm short, I can't see the back of the room. While I...
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Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for December 27, 2024
Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman
The Transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for December 27, 2024, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Larger Audiences Need More Examples I have a rule of thumb: The larger the audience, the more I need to tell fractal stories. (See the stories section for more specifics.) That's because a larger audience does not offer you the same feedback a smaller audience does. While you can never quite tell if your audience is on the same journey as you are, it's almost...
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Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for December 20, 2024
Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman
The Transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for December 20, 2024, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This is from the Effective Public Speaking book. Review the Risks You Fear When I work with speakers who say they fear speaking, I ask them to write down the answers to these questions: * What's the worst thing that could happen? Then, write down at least three things to manage those risks. in some way. * What’s the best thing that could happen? What three things can I consider to make that best thing...
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I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for February 21, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress.
This is from a short story titled “A Fine Hand.”
Lillian Gray lifted the delicate white bone china teacup to her mouth and inhaled the calming odor of red raspberry leaf tea. She never understood how something that smelled like summer and raspberries and home could taste quite so awful. She thought it tasted like musty spiders, old, dead, and slightly off.
Instead of the tea, she focused on the drawing room.
She was a guest in the Brantwood home on Hawthorne Street in New Bedford, Massachusetts. This home was at the “top” of Hawthorne Street, about a half-mile from the New Bedford harbor. (Although, she always thought of it as the Acushnet harbor because Acushnet surrounded the harbor on three sides. Unfortunately, no one asked her.)