Tisha Bender's Blog

In this new world, I confess to not always feeling brave. As I stride out onto the street, looking like a fashionable bandit with my colourful patterned mask snugly in place, I contemplate how all the things that previously gave me joy are gone, and are now instead filling me with prescribed avoidance. Even the term "social distancing" seems to be an oxymoron; how can we be sociable yet be far apart? We are social beings, and as we evolved as a society, we would huddle together in hamlets,...

Some ideas from the Jewish faith have found their way into my novel, 'And All is Always Now.' One is the idea that when a beautiful event, such as a wedding, is scheduled, it should still be celebrated even if there is severe hardship in the case of another family member or loved one. What are your thoughts on this? If the sadness or worry seems insurmountable, would it be better to postpone the wedding? Or should the joy of the wedding be seen as so glorious that it takes precedence?

A secon...

A secret, as we know, is the withholding of confidential information. And secrets can be hard to keep. We are perhaps familiar with the feeling that we might explode if we can't reveal a secret, and therefore possibly needing to go down to the lake, or clutching a mirror, and whispering our secret to our reflection. 

Family secrets can happen either within or between families, andAnd All is Always Nowhas some of each. It is not uncommon, for example, for siblings to tell each other informatio...

A secret, as we know, is the withholding of confidential information. And secrets can be hard to keep. We are perhaps familiar with the feeling that we might explode if we can't reveal a secret, and therefore possibly needing to go down to the lake, or clutching a mirror, and whispering our secret to our reflection. 

Family secrets can happen either within or between families, andAnd All is Always Nowhas some of each. It is not uncommon, for example, for siblings to tell each other informatio...

Nowadays we are all photographers.  We whip out our phones and take photos of anything that impresses us. But this is a relatively recent change. Before the new millennium, when our phones were not smart and our cameras were not digital,  we would lug around bulky and weighty cameras, which might frankly have been quite cumbersome to take on a trip.

In my novel, And All is Always Now, our protagonist Fleur is about to visit the Lake District, and sensibly decides to buy a camera beforehand. S...

As D.H. Lawrence, that writer not only of human passion but also one who showed exquisite eloquence about nature, once said, "Love is the flower of life, and blossoms unexpectedly, and without law, and must be plucked where it is found, and enjoyed for the brief hour of its duration." Perhaps that's why Lawrence wrote so much about nature, as he likened it so much to love between people.

This is a theme I also use in my novel, 'And All is Always Now.' And I write about nature not only because...

Sprinkled throughout And All is Always Now, are scenarios in which, in different formats and with different individuals, there are questions as to whether or not we should always come to the help of someone in need.

A man we care very much about is in a highly dangerous situation. Should he try to escape as swiftly as he can, or should he, having noticed a pregnant woman who is rigid with fear, stop his own flight and escort her out of danger? The pregnant woman is...

In And All is Always Now, there's a minor, yet critical character, a Dr. Eriksson, who is a physicist, who cites proof for the conventional wisdom of Time marching steadily forward. But Florence and Lance have a good deal of evidence that this notion of Time might not be accurate. 

Indeed they start to believe that the Past, Present and Future all coexist - thereby giving the novel its name 'And All is Always Now,' (as quoted from a line in a poem by T.S. Eliot) - but if this is true, what im...

I hadn't realized until it was pointed out to me, that there are so many references to food in And All is Always Now. And this should come as no surprise, as I love food and even teach a class on food, and am always planning my next delicious meal, even as I drive home from a long, tiring day at work.

Since And All is Always Now takes place in England and the US, and a little in France, there is mention of some foods from each country. There's of course roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, scones...

I think it is always fascinating to hear the story behind any creative piece, whether it is a novel, art work, music or play. My story behind the writing of And All is Always Now is simple, and it all began when I was only 17 years old. I had been staying in a farm house owned by the parents of my first love, in a very remote, rural, rugged part of North Wales. He and I had enjoyed many adventures together, roaming over the countryside, chasing each other up hills and down into valleys, shrie...