The sun slants in my office window, turning the leaves of the orchids on the desk translucent. Though the glass, I see a thicket of dead branches with a small brown bird hopping through it. The tips of the bamboo plant wave in a stiff breeze. Further out are the roofs of neighboring houses, barren […]
This morning I woke up tired, headachy, and full. Yesterday was, after all, Thanksgiving. And I cooked for 12 people, which is enough to give anybody an exhaustion hangover. As I stood in the kitchen, sipping my coffee, I thought that I'd skip my morning routine of writing first thing. Because, well, I didn't feel […]
Let's get one thing straight at the outset: I know the subject of this post is not news to you. It is not news to me, either. What it is, is a reminder. A reminder I seem to need every so often, so I figure you might, too. Because putting writing first in one's life […]
We interrupt finishing the novel to bring you this slightly weird post. If weird posts offend you, stop reading now. Yesterday morning as I was getting ready for the day I had thoughts that were directly related to the putting on of make-up. Now, this may sound like a bit of a stretch to you […]
The task of a novelist is to tell a story so riveting that it will hold a reader’s attention for hundreds of pages. To do this, the author must first know the story intimately herself—which is the reason we write rough drafts (also known as “discovery drafts” or, my favorite, from the beloved Anne Lamott, […]
