Photo above: Stonehenge at dawn on winter solstice (photograph by Mike Peel via WikiMedia Commons) BOOK GIVEAWAY INFO BELOW Desire for soup Recently I've been feeling sluggish and unfocused. My greatest desires seem to be curling up under a warm blanket and cooking a hearty soup. Everything else seems like too much trouble. Then, a... Continue Reading →
I've had quite a few stories published in online and print literary journals in the last five years. And quite a few not published. I recently received a rejection from a publication that provides brief feedback in return for a small contribution when you submit. As I read the comments, it became apparent that the... Continue Reading →
Being a writer can be hard sometimes. All alone in your garret, scribbling away. Not to mention the often depressing news about how hard it is to make a living in this business. That's why I'm having a party. I can't take credit for this idea. Over the years, I've so enjoyed the drop-and-hop events... Continue Reading →
I never considered myself to be someone who has a problem being vulnerable. After all, I put myself out there every day—as an editor, a speaker, a teacher, a birth doula, a parent. But my self-conception may be, like most people’s, somewhat inaccurate. This becomes evident as I count down to the release of my... Continue Reading →
Four writers sat around a table, commiserating. “I write a lot about what I’m going to write. I have pages and pages of notes.” “I have so many ideas… but I just can’t get started.” “The story I end up writing is never as good as the one I imagined.” “I get so antsy when... Continue Reading →
EXT. - DINER - EARLY MORNING The camera moves across a parking lot with big sky in the background and sunrise clouds, toward a diner with a plate glass window. Through the slightly misted window we see A MAN sitting alone at a table looking down into a steaming cup. A WAITRESS approaches with a... Continue Reading →
Everywhere you turn this time of year you find a top this-or-that list: books, movies, political disasters. I wasn't thinking about lists or the new year when I sat down a few days ago for my morning writing session. What emerged was a contemplation, in the form of a list, of why I pursue the... Continue Reading →
First, you must obtain a topic. They are not hard to come by. They are everywhere: in the cafés, on the sidewalks, in the muggy offices of bureaucrats. If you lack one, your taskmaster will supply it for you in the form of a piece of literature to which you must respond. Next, formulate your... Continue Reading →
Less than a week has passed since I returned from the Sonoma County Writers Camp, organized by two amazing writing teachers—Ellen Sussman and Elizabeth Stark—with an appearance by Angie Powers and panels of writers and agents. It was held at an equally mind-blowing location: The Occidental Arts and Ecology Center in Occidental, California. While there,... Continue Reading →
