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The Mental Health Crisis and College Teaching

 Caveat: I am not an expert on this issue in terms of credentialing. I am an "experiential," on-the-ground semi-expert on the subject of dealing with college students with mental health problems as a faculty member and lower-level administrator.  Second caveat: I have no quantitative data that I have generated myself. There is plenty of that available if you look for it, and you will not have to look very long.  I read (parts of) Jean Twenge's book IGEN , and now Jonathan Haidt has a book out on the same subject (which I am tempted to think he borrowed from Twenge's work; I heard him cite her on a podcast). So the stats about 60% of young women being depressed and how much the female suicide rate has gone up are well reported.  Third caveat: I cannot, obviously, give details or examples from my experience, so any I do allude to will be vague.  Beyond the caveats: I am a department chair in the liberal arts unit of my college. My department has the distinction of incl

Creative Writing, Novels, Books that Overpromise, and why we write

This is a review of  Save the Cat Writes a Novel (SCWAN) Our screenwriting instructor at the college where I teach recommended, sort of, the Save the Cat book for screenwriting. Actually, I am not sure that it was a recommendation; it was more of an “it has some good ideas…” comment. He himself uses the Syd Field book, The Foundations of Screenwriting, to teach the course. Since I sat in on his class in 2021, I can say I read the book but it’s time to read it again. Of course, I haven’t really touched my screenplay in a couple of years. I am a novelist. That is my form, along with some short fiction. However, Jessica Brody took the concepts of Save the Cat and applied them to novel writing. I bought it. I read it. I liked it, sort of.    It promises a lot more than it delivers. The website Mythcreants ( https://mythcreants.com/ ) tears it apart in several blog posts. I see their point, but everyone is in a different place in their writing career and development. Her major

My website

I have a full website at https://www.barbaragrahamtucker.net/ Please visit for more information about my work.

My newest novel: Historical fiction, Long Lost Justice

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Available now $5.00, Kindle only for now A sixty-year-old hate crime refuses to be buried.  From betareader:  Barbara Graham Tucker has outdone herself with her new novel Long  Lost Justice. She does what every writer aspires to- makes her readers want to keep reading. You cannot wait for the next chapter. You care deeply about the story and the characters. It is her best work to date. You will be both happy and sad: happy that you read Long Lost Justice , and sad that Barbara Tucker’s next book is not out yet.    Jerry Drye