I’m always interested in the writing spaces of other writers. The Guardian UK has been doing a series called Writer’s Rooms for a while now. Entertainment Weekly infrequently features writer’s spaces. And this month, Poets & Writers magazine online has writer John Casey‘s workspace–annotated! Not as fancy, and probably messier, here is a picture, taken [...]

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Yet more wonderfulness from The Writer’s Almanac on NPR. I want to schedule all of my teaching so that it ends at 7 and I can drive home to The Writer’s Almanac. Sunday it was the birthday of George Eliot, born Mary  Anne Evans near Nuneaton, England (1819). Author of Middlemarch, The Mill on the [...]

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Perfectionism is a primary writer’s block. We want to write–we just want to do it perfectly. Deliberately indulge in some “bad writing.” The danger of writing and rewriting at the same time is that it is tied in to mood. In an expansive mood, whatever we write is good. This makes writing a roller coaster [...]

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Hermia, my cranky, crazy, neurotic, fuzzy, fat then skinny, chatty, wonderful, 19 years and 5 months old cat died this past Saturday. Did I mention she was over 19 years old? Most websites I found gave her human year equivalent as 93 years. That’s older than Betty White, but not older than Gloria Stuart (Titanic) [...]

Posted in cats, hermia, my writing 12 Comments »

Great, funny blog on author photos from MobyLives (why don’t I read MobyLives more often?), which is actually from Flavorwire. Here’s an excerpt: 1. The Sophisticated Photograph (aka “The My-head-is-so-weighted-down-by-great-thoughts-it-requires-additional-support”) It’s the two-fingered peace sign of tourists. The “say cheese” of extended-family portraits. The pouty lips of Facebook users. The middle finger of punk rockers. [...]

Posted in Vermont Studio Center, books, cute photos of me, fiction, my writing, writers 1 Comment »

I’ve posted before about how I’m always writing lists. Lists of things to do (tomorrow, later, next week), lists of things to buy (glue, glitter, gum), lists of events coming up (B-day party Saturday, Mike and Jake’s going away party). I write probably three lists a day, minimum. That’s why my blog is covered in [...]

Posted in books, fiction, my writing, questions that plague me, writers No Comments »

Finished my first week back teaching after a far-t00-idle summer. Four classes and a fifth starts in October. I need to be busy again. Busy-ness makes me feel better. Having things to do, having places to be and responsibilities. I’d like to think it pushes me creatively, too. This summer was just a wash–too much [...]

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Where to begin? I seem to keep taking too long to post new blog entries. Sorry. This has got to be one of the slowest summers — as far as (paid) work for me — I’ve ever had but still I find myself busy, frazzled, distracted. So, first, Fishtrap. Got back from my 8-day writing [...]

Posted in Fishtrap, cute photos of me, fiction, my writing, travel, writers, writing residencies 3 Comments »

Today I head out to Northeast Oregon for a writing conference and retreat at Fishtrap. I’m one of the five fellows (that sounds funny… but I mean myself and four others have a fellowship for the week)– and I’ll be taking a writing seminar/workshop/class three hours every morning with the writer of one of the [...]

Posted in Fishtrap, books, my writing, poetry, travel, writers, writing residencies No Comments »

I love getting my Word of the Day from Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary (you can sign up for it on their website). I’ve discovered so many cool, strange, new words from it and I keep a file of them on my computer. Who knows, one or more of them could end up in my writing. Today’s [...]

Posted in Movies, fiction, my writing, word of the day No Comments »