Salutations! I’m Fran Haley, the voice of Lit Bits and Pieces.
“Lit” has several meanings here: literacy, literature, literary interests. Although threads of my work as a K-12 reading specialist, English educator, and literacy coach run through the posts, the bottom line is that I am a lifelong lover of reading and writing. I’ve written a little bit of everything—curriculum, literary criticism, creative nonfiction, fiction, short stories, poetry. I facilitate professional development for teachers in writing, an area of support where “lit” takes on a deeper meaning: the spark of inspiration, harnessing and growing the power which lies inside us all. I tell students and teachers that writing is the closest thing to magic that there is.
It’s true.
In the movie Shadowlands, Sir Anthony Hopkins, portraying author C.S. Lewis, speaks this line: “We read to know we are not alone.”
I say we write to know we have lived.
Everything has meaning, and matters.
So welcome, reader, teacher, writer, and other kindred spirit. Here you will encounter my small epiphanies and musings, various and sundry backlit reflections. I write Lit Bits and Pieces because I want to. These scenes in my heart need a keeping place. I hope they inspire and encourage you in whatever you do and whoever you are, as a co-practitioner of life. As Helen Steiner Rice penned in “My Thanks”: So if you found some beauty in any word or line,/ It’s just your soul’s reflection in proximity with mine.
Read. Write. Reflect.
Learn. Live.
Enjoy.
Favorite Lit Bits from students:
3rd grader, on hearing the opening stanzas of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” for the first time: “Oh, that sounds just like music!”
5th grader, weeping at the conclusion of a modeled memoir: “That was the most wonderful and terrible thing I ever heard!”
2nd grader: “Are you Hermione?”
12th grader: “What do you mean, my essay doesn’t have to be five paragraphs?”
Any student: “I want to read my writing to you” and “Can I borrow one of your books?”
Although I grew up on the Virginia Peninsula, my roots run deep in eastern North Carolina. Here’s to celebrating life with family stories old and new. Especially with great dogs.
Connect with me on Twitter: @fahaley
lit bits and pieces 
Hi Fran! I’ve been missing your post on SOS! I tried to subscribe to your blog, but couldn’t find a way. I hope by replying I will get notifications. I love the pit bull story – so insightful. And I will try those black bean burgers tonight! Happy August – Joanne
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Joanne – you are ever so kind and uplifting. I must try to get back to SOS, for I love those post prompts and all the writers. Much “magic” and love there. I found myself scaling back from many things since the spring, roughly – I think just out of energy conservation. I got a notification that you followed the blog so I think you will get the posts – am moved and honored that you want to read them! If you make those burgers, you must let me know how they turn out. Deepest thanks ❤ Fran
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Fran, as this month draws to a close, I wish to thank you for reading my posts and leaving such insightful remarks. It has been very encouraging. I intend to post frequently after the SOL challenge ends, and I hope you will, too. I draw a lot of inspiration from your writing. You clearly adore your family! I have become a fan.
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You’re so gracious, Paul. I post regularly and haven’t mentioned until now that I’ve been posting every day in 2022. The last day of the SOLSC tomorrow will make 90 successive days. I don’t have a goal; just taking it as it comes. I do post on the Tuesday SOL challenges – I look forward to seeing you there, for your writing is fabulous, a joy to read, and I am planning to try that recipe! Thank you for your own encouraging words. Write on 🙂
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