Charlotte Rains Dixon

Giving Thanks (A Love Letter)

So, this past Thursday was Thanksgiving day in the United States. It is, of course, a day to give thanks, based on the time many years ago that the original settlers had reaped their first harvest and it began to look like maybe they could do this new world thing after all. I’m quite sure […]

Charlotte Rains Dixon 8 years ago11/21/2017

Love letters

Living the Astonishing Writer’s Life (A Love Letter)

As you read this, I’ll be finishing up a five-day stay in Louisville, Kentucky, after a conference/celebration at Spalding University, where I got my MFA. The celebration part was to honor Sena Jeter Naslund, the founder and long-time director of the MFA program, who is retiring. Sena is the author of many wonderful novels, including […]

Charlotte Rains Dixon 8 years ago11/11/2017

Love letters

Don’t listen to writing advice (A love letter)

One day this week, I rose at 5 AM. I worked for an hour and a half—nailed the organization of a book project—and then drove to my son’s house for emergency babysitting duty at 6:30. By 9 AM that morning I’d knocked a big item off my to-do list, watched George, eaten breakfast and done […]

Charlotte Rains Dixon 8 years ago11/10/2017

Morning Routine Procrastination

Go With The Flow

This morning when I got up at my usual early hour (made even earlier this week with the time switch), I had plans to work on the rewrite of my novel. Because that’s what I do when I get up early to write. It is my sacred time, devoted only to writing fiction. (Except for […]

Charlotte Rains Dixon 8 years ago

Love letters

On Writing and Determination (A Love Letter)

Hi Writers, I babysat my 10-month-old grandson George one day this week, as I do most weeks, and as he gets older and more mobile I’m struck by one thing: his determination. He’ll attempt to climb on his rocking moose, for instance, but miss and plop on the floor. Up he scrabbles again. Then he […]

Charlotte Rains Dixon 8 years ago11/04/2017

Love letters

On Fitting it All (Including Writing) In, A Love Letter

Meditation. Love it or swear you’re going to scream if you hear someone say the word one more time, right? I had a great meditation practice established for a long time. Fifteen or twenty minutes every day, sometimes even twice a day. I loved meditating. It made me calmer, helped me focus better, and expanded […]

Charlotte Rains Dixon 8 years ago10/25/2017

Love letters

The Importance of Telling the Story

Tell the story. A friend calls. A terrible thing has happened. She’s okay. But this terrible, unthinkable thing happened. She tells me about it in great detail, going over every detail and then back again, looping around and around. I listen, giving her the space to say whatever she needs, to repeat the particulars as […]

Charlotte Rains Dixon 8 years ago10/14/2017

Love letters

A love letter about pain

This week. It couldn’t have been more awful. The terrible tragedy in Las Vegas, coming on the heels of a month of devastating natural disasters, was almost too much to bear. People I know and love are suffering from these events. And on top of all that, I have a friend and a family member […]

Charlotte Rains Dixon 8 years ago10/06/2017

Love letters

A love letter about time

I’m writing this to you at 4:30 in the morning, sitting at my desk back home in Portland. Yes, you read that right: 4:30 AM. Because: jet lag. I’ve been waking at this hour every day since we returned home from France on Tuesday night. It’s great for getting writing done, but hell for trying […]

Charlotte Rains Dixon 8 years ago09/30/2017

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