Blog

A Gift of Spirit and a Kick in the Pants

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30 Nov 2009
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On Saturday, my friend LaVonne (75 years young) and I decided to drive to the neighboring town of Bayfield to visit the woo-woo store there, Pathways. I figured it was a nice way to spend a morning with a dear friend – it ended up being something so much more. We were browsing the section with tarot and oracle cards. One set caught my eye: the Ascended Masters Oracle Cards. I was happy to see a “demo” or store copy open so I could see the beautiful illustrations of the deck. I lifted the deck mid-way and the card I...
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Reading, Writing and Guilt

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18 Nov 2009
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After the AROHO writers’ retreat I attended in August, I was gung-ho about signing up for writer’s blogs and subscribing to writing magazines. I bought works by short story writers I hoped to emulate. I work at a national nonprofit as a marketing/communications specialist three days a week (Tuesday-Thursday). I envisioned Mondays and Fridays as days to devote to reading and writing. Instead, I’ve been in a quagmire of guilt because I haven’t done much of either lately. The stack of books and magazines sits on my nightstand and mocks me. “Look at the money you spent on us!” “Stop...
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It’s the Plot, Stupid

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10 Nov 2009
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Oh my, it’s been a while since I last wrote. Life has been busy but in a very good way. I just got back from 10 days in the British Virgin Islands on the lovely island of Tortola, which my husband and I have visited three times. It’s not an island for those craving night life. The slow, plodding way of life lends itself to rum punches, long naps in the sun and plenty of time for reading. I foolishly brought my laptop thinking I’d either make enormous progress on the novel or start a new one for National Novel...
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A Novel in a Month — Ready, Set, Go!

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21 Oct 2009
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November is National Novel Writing Month. Seriously. A whole month dedicated to writing 50,000 words. My local paper featured an article on this because 14 people in my area actually did this last year. Durango’s pretty darn small. What’s up with those 14 people? The NaNoWriMo web site (I’m not making this up) explains the effort this way: Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It’s all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly. Make no mistake: You will...
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Attack of the Query Shark!

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14 Oct 2009
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No excuses for the long break between posts except that my injured knee and I have been throwing a pity party. The darn joint won’t cooperate and will likely keep me out of the half marathon in Moab, UT on Sunday. Oh well, I got tons of writing done in bed, knee propped up, ice pack in place, listening to tiny violins play in the background. I also had some quality Internet time and found two great sites I’d like to share:http://jetreidliterary.blogspot.com/http://queryshark.blogspot.com Both blogs are written by Janet Reid, a literary agent. She’s smart, funny and snarky as hell. The...
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Conjure the Dream

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09 Oct 2009
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I’ve written several times about my intention board — it has my calls to the universe for things I want to manifest in my life. Well, until today, they’ve only been words on Post-It notes; nothing visual. I recently ran across a powerful exercise for first-time novelists. You’re supposed to seek out an image you think represents your future book cover — and then cut out words and paste up a mock cover to remind you of the dream of publishing that manuscript one day. Can I just say HOW MUCH FUN it was to do this? I have some...
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The POV Smorgasbord

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07 Oct 2009
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I’m reading a fascinating book called “Writing in General and the Short Story in Particular” by Rust Hills. There’s a lot of great stuff in the book but the chapter on point of view is especially compelling. He goes into the whole list of types (omniscient, first person, third person, scenic, central intelligence) but then goes on to say “It seems to me that the proper attitude for the writer is to leave the systematizing to someone else and just rejoice that there are so many methods.” I liked that he outlined some of the limitations of certain POVs but...
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Inspiration as Writing Partner

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02 Oct 2009
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Some people, when they learn I write fiction, say they’d love to do the same thing but they just don’t have a great imagination. Until October 2008, I said the very same thing. I had been a non-fiction writer for more than 20 years; it felt comfortable and it paid the bills. Truthfully, I didn’t think I had a story in me so fiction held no allure. When I started the first book almost exactly a year ago, I had NO CHOICE in the matter. I’m not going to get too woo-woo here but the inspiration and many times the...
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Connect with Me

LINKS FOR WRITERS
   
WRITING RESOURCES
  • “On Writing,” by Stephen King
  • “What If? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers,” by Ann Bernays and Pamela Painter
  • “250 Things You Should Know about Writing,” by Chuck Wendig
  • “Unless It Moves the Human Heart: The Craft and Art of Writing,” by Roger Rosenblatt
  • “The Fire in Fiction: Passion, Purpose, and Techniques to Make Your Novel Great,” by Donald Maass
  • “How to Grow a Novel: The Most Common Mistakes Writers Make and How to Overcome Them,” by Sol Stein