Actually, it was yesterday, so Happy Belated National Punctuation Day! I am a lover of punctuation. Punctuation can change the entire rhythm of a sentence. It can change the entire meaning. You’ve probably seen this example: A teacher asked her class to punctuate this sentence: Woman without her man is nothing. Half came up with — Read More
A thousand lives
I have been insanely busy lately. As in, I’m putting in 60+ hours per week at work and still trying to remain somewhat social with other humans in my “free time” (in quotes because it doesn’t seem so free when it’s an item on a to-do list). For an introvert, this leads to exhaustion. As — Read More
Second sentences
Fact: I keep a notebook full of first sentences that I never attach to second sentences, let alone full stories. I started the notebook with the goal of returning to these first sentences “when time frees up.” Now, instead of considering it a sort of to-do notebook, I consider it a journal of random thoughts — Read More
26 writing tips from famous authors
Want tips from writers who know what the hell they’re talking about? Check out the 26 tips here. These really resonate with me: George Orwell John Steinbeck Annie Dillard Ray Bradbury Saul Bellow Kurt Vonnegut
On publishing short stories
Or, rather, on NOT publishing short stories. I’ve never had a short story published in a literary magazine. There, I said it. I’ve written tons, but I stopped submitting them. There was a time, when I was fresh out of grad school and full of enthusiasm, when I subscribed to Poets & Writers magazine and — Read More
Out of print (but on my shirt)
A good friend of mine turned me onto this site: Out of Print. There are about 20 things I already want, like this: And this: And this: What I really love is their mission statement: Out of Print celebrates the world’s great stories through fashion. Our products feature iconic and often out of print book — Read More
Getting away from it all
I spent last week in Yosemite, hiking a 60-mile High Sierra Loop. No television. No computer. No cell phone. And, interestingly, I started having some writing ideas pass through my head. I brought a journal and multiple pens with me (because I have this odd fear of running out of ink when I really, really, — Read More
If I owned a bookstore
I’ve always had a little dream of owning a bookstore. In my dream, it doubles as a coffee/tea shop and it’s called “Noveltea.” There would be used books (and new ones, too), one-of-a-kind stationery and cards, homemade muffins and cookies, weekly reading sessions. And, if I could swing it, I would steal this bookstore’s idea: — Read More
My book was a bad idea.
I’ve had that thought about a couple books I wrote, so when I saw a Salon.com article with that title, I had to click. And that’s when I got to know Corinne Purtill’s experience with writing a book. And I got to empathize with her. The gist: Woman quits day job to write book. Book — Read More
What NOT to say to a writer
I don’t know if it’s just that writers are super sensitive or what, but it seems that all of us feel like people say the wrong thing in response to our career/hobby/passion/whathaveyou. This list is a pretty good summary, capturing common comments that make writers laugh (or cry, on a bad day): From my own — Read More