I've been slogging through the "final" rewrite of my novel lately. Its a funny thing with working on a long extended piece over time, such as a novel or a memoir. You rearrange one chapter and this rearrangement uncovers other things that need attention. Thus, more work and more rewriting. As the days I've allotted […]
I'm all for creativity–it is the centerpiece of my life. As a writer, I've had to cultivate ways to be creative and stay creative on a regular basis. This includes nurturing ideas, putting them on paper, and developing them into finished pieces, whether those finished pieces are paid work for clients or passion projects for […]
Last week, I set a goal with my friend and fellow writer Roy, that both of us would rise at 5 AM in order to write. The goal was to do it twice last week and three times this week. Since he's in Nashville and I'm in Portland, with a two hour time difference, the […]
The Big, Scary Beast and the Ancient, Frail Feline are both asleep (in separate rooms, I might add) and so I have a moment to ponder techniques to keep access to the muse alive and well. This is on my mind because at the recent Loft orientation, my fellow mentor and old friend Betsy Woods […]
I'm home from Nashville. I actually got home Monday night, but I went right from being picked up at the airport to see my Mom, and came home exhausted. Its a long drag across the country. I know, I know, people fly much longer distances all the time now, but I don't care, it is […]
Twitter is, of course, the social networking rage. Seems like everyone from corporations to small businesses to solopreneurs to politicians are tweeting. And with good reason, I some people find it addictive. There are posts galore on how to best use Twitter to promote yourself or your business, how to not waste time on Twitter, […]
I just found mine. It wasn't really lost, in the sense that it was something I desperately missed. It was more like it was buried under the multitude of interests and ideas that crowd my sometimes-mushy brain (too much going on in there!) It wasn't even something that I felt I needed. The experts, however, […]
I took down my Christmas tree on Thursday night. I know I'm a bit late in getting this done, but I've had good reason. I developed a bit of a system this year. First, I removed the soft ornaments, home-made stuffed fabric Christmas shapes and gingerbread men, as well as furry bears from various sources. […]
At the hospital, time flows differently. It moves slowly during long stretches of waiting for something to happen. Then, all of a sudden, everything happens at once. The nurse arrives for a blood pressure check, someone comes in to draw blood, a technician arrives to cart the patient off for a X-ray. The patient is […]
It is New Year's Eve, 2008, the cusp of a new year. I'm a wildly optimistic person and every year I proclaim that the next year is going to be the best yet. And, nearly everyone of them turns out to be best in some arena. It may be very difficult for some people to […]
