I talk a lot about writing workshops and retreats, because I love them both so much. But I’m aware that sometimes in the past I’ve used the terms workshop and retreat interchangeably, causing all matter of confusion and consternation. So let’s discuss, shall we? During a writing workshop, writers submit work, either ahead of time […]
After three weeks in France, I’m home again. Even though the Google and my phone still feed me the occasional search result or ad in French, it is nice to be able to understand the language people are speaking around me. (It’s always a shock to land back in a U.S. airport on the journey […]
I’m leaving for France (Paris and Ceret) soon. I’m not one of those people who pack and repack a week ahead. No, you’ll find me throwing clothes in the suitcase the night before. But, and this is a big but—when the time comes for me to commence said throwing, I will know exactly what I’m […]
Writing a novel is, at heart, all about making shit up. That phrase–making shit up–became the constant refrain of my Mapping the Novel workshop at the Sitka Center last week. (It was the BEST workshop ever, mostly because of my wonderful students, but also because of the fabulous staff and the spectacular location. I could go […]
So, today is Friday and usually often on Friday I do a round-up post called Five on Friday in which I tell what’s going on in my life. As I started to write that post today, I realized that most of it would be taken up with information about the workshop I’m going to teach […]
It has come to my attention that next weekend is Memorial Day. Could somebody please tell me how that happened? And, though summer doesn’t officially start until after the solstice, we all know that Memorial Day is the unofficial beginning of long, lazy days, right? Well, if someone could show me a universe in which […]
Good morning! Let’s dive in. What crisis occurred this morning: I woke to the news that the electric coffee pot was not working. This was not good. This was very, very bad. I pulled out my phone and looked up the hours of the nearest Starbucks (luckily, we’ve got at least three within a […]
Yeah, I know. It’s November and you’re holed up in your writing cave. Because, NaNoWriMo. You’ve got words to write! 50,000 of them, to be exact! And even if you’re not participating in that NaNo thing, you’re doing your best to get tons of words on the page every day because that’s what we writers […]
What Who I'm in Love With: My new grandson, Owen Lewis Hopman, born October 13, thus becoming the 9th Libra among our extended family and friends. He was two weeks overdue, and I'm convinced that he just wanted to make certain he had his very own birthday, rather than sharing it with a grandfather, grandmother, father or uncle […]
I'm just back from three weeks in Europe, one week for leading a writing workshop, and the other two for fun. However, I am a firm believer that even the two "fun" weeks contributed greatly to my writing career. Yeah, it might have looked like I was lolling about in the south of France, eating tapas […]
