One year ago – after ten months of energetically marketing my novel – I followed The Artist’s Way, a twelve-week course in finding my way back to the page. Written by Julia Cameron, the book has become something of a bible for artistic types who want to work past all the blocks to creativity that […]
Souvenirs from the Edge
In Happy Trails, my last post before I left on vacation, I anticipated collecting stories while I was away. But one of the wonders of travel is its element of surprise: I didn’t collect so many stories as I collected pages and pages of words. Southwest Utah is beautiful and strange, a place where geology […]
Happy Trails
It’s like one of those light-bulb jokes: “How many suitcases does a writer take with her on vacation?” One carry-on with clothes and a computer, and an extra-large checked Pullman filled with papers and books. At least that’s how I’ve traveled in the past, packing reading for writing projects right along side reading for pleasure. […]
Solace & Hope
On Sunday, August 28, Irene cried on my village, destroying whole sections of it. Gratefully, no life has been lost, but friends’ and neighbors’ homes have been washed away – along with their land and belongings. Roads are gone, bridges broken. I suffered no property damage, but I am changed by the devastation – […]
Cleaning House
I spent a perfectly good workday cleaning. I started with my writing studio, a single, tiny, room. Nevertheless, I moved all the furniture away from the walls, brought in a stepladder and a vacuum and chased cobwebs out of corners. I washed the windows – inside and out. I polished the woodstove with stove black, […]