Cindy Muscatel
It is my pleasure to introduce all the members to Cindy Muscatel, our new editor. Since I have sold my home at Hualalai I approached Cindy to see if she wanted to take over the blog. To my delight, she said, “absolutely”. Here is a brief bio of Cindy’s background: Mike Sack
Our family has been coming to Hualalai for twenty years. Our children and grandchildren love it as much as we do. No one ever wants to leave! No matter how hard I try, I can’t resist taking just one more photo of the most current sunset! This is a special place of beauty and tranquility. I sure felt that this morning doing yoga at the Palm Grove. As the Francolins called to each other, I started calming down.
Always and forever, I’ve written. Even as a child. By the time I was a senior at Garfield High School in Seattle, Washington, I was editor of the school newspaper. In those days, we literally cut and pasted the paper. I’m excited to let the computer do that work!
I love writing humor! I wanted to be Erma Bombeck when I grew up. This led me to write for The Seattle Times, Bellevue Journal American, The Desert Sun, the Desert Newsgroup, and the Palm Canyon Times. I also wrote for Desert Magazine for many years, interviewing many fascinating people. I did the work the publication wanted (I was society editor of The Desert Sun for awhile—I thought I’d lose my mind) and they’d publish my humor columns. I now write a blog, “A Corner of My Mind”, that lets me indulge in my Erma side.
I’ve had many short stories and essays published in such journals as descant, Wisconsin Review, North Atlantic Review, Haight Ashbury Literary Journal, Riversedge, 13thMoon, Mainstreet Rag, Quercus Review, EDGE, Snakeskin, The Legendary, Highlights for Children, Turtle, Phantom Seed and others.
Teaching is my other love. I taught English, Journalism and Drama in the Seattle Public Schools in the inner city. Later, after I’d raised my own children, I taught English and Social Studies to middle schoolers at The Seattle Hebrew Academy. When we moved to Palm Springs, I began teaching Creative Writing to Seniors. We published an anthology in 2008. I also taught writing and literature for UC San Bernadino.
Right now, I’m teaching a memoir writing class at Hualalai (we have stories that the younger generations NEED to know!!!!!). I’m also working on a memoir of the years I taught at Meany Junior High in the late Sixties. Several chapters of the book have already been published as stand-alone pieces. “Burn Baby Burn”, is about the day the Black Panthers set the school on fire. My short story collection, Radio Days, will be published in the spring of 2019.
I was born, raised and raised my own family in the greater Seattle area. I graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Washington and got my Masters in Education degree from Seattle University.
Leave a Reply