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Write, as always
OK, so I’m a sucker for a good pun. Nevertheless, these three words sum it all up pretty well. Here I am, and the ripe old age of … ok I’m not going to tell you but let’s just say it’s divisible by...
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Making a good Mother
Yeah, no. Not that kind. As a matter of fact, I am sitting at my desk NOT doing laundry, not baking banana bread, listening to my kids argue over which episode of Go Diego Go to watch … but hey, it’s...
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Distractions #1
Just sayin. So many distractions. Those little things that get in the way of writing. Funny how no one seems to understand how much more important it is to write all morning than to clean the kitchen....
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Research is vital (and fun!)
Research is an important component of writing – even in fiction. Of course the common advice is to write what you know, and that advice is absolutely dead on. However, details matter. So for a writer,...
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Everybody, duck!
One of the fun things my main character Mona gets to do in my novel MOTHER MONA is feed the family ducks at her daughter’s cabin on Spruce Island, Alaska. When our family last visited Spruce Island, we...
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May is Preeclampsia Awareness Month
In my novel MOTHER MONA, my main character Mona travels to remote Alaska to help her daughter who is hospitalized with preeclampsia. What the heck is preeclampsia? A lot of people have never heard of...
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For Mother’s Day I Want A Heap of Guts
People in your works of fiction always think the story is about them. It is. And, it’s not. For example, I have spent hours (okay a lot of minutes) trying to convince my mother that my novel MOTHER...
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How to query like Bilbo Bagginses
So my last post was all about finding the courage to send out query letters to literary agents for my novel, MOTHER MONA. I finally found a little bit between the couch cushions, and so I actually went...
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Writing: A life of discipline and hard work
In my last post, I noted that one of the best (and least fattening) ways to survive the querying process with a wee semplance of sanity intact is to keep on writing. Yeah. Toward that end, I’ve been...
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How to Make Dandelion Jelly
Time for a confession: I am going to let you in on one of my deepest, darkest secrets: I love dandelions. Don’t tell my husband – PLEASE don’t tell him. It’s a betrayal, I know. I KNOW. But I cannot...
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So excited!
I’m so excited – six weeks until my oldest daughter and I get to attend the Willamette Writers’ Conference in Portland! Attending a conference has been a dream of mine for a while now, but life is busy...
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Underneath it all
Today’s post is a short and simple snapshot of one of my favorite characters in my novel-in-progress, THE VOLUME OF WATER. Her name is Nadine. If she looks familiar, that’s because this photo is of...
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It’s all in your mind (well, actually it is)
One of the best teachers I ever had was professor Ron Spatz at University of Alaska Anchorage, who was then the head of the Creative Writing Department and also the editor of the prestigious Alaska...
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The road …
“The road to hell is paved with works-in-progress.” —Philip Roth I think that sums it up nicely. Don’t you?
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Top Ten Things on Twitter for Writers
It is difficult for non-writer types to understand this, but spending time on Twitter is a very important part of being an author. So is a dedicated LOLZ board on Pinterest, a platinum Visa card...
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Physics and the laws of character development: going to extremes
Remember your first lesson in magnets, way back in elementary school? Each magnet has two poles, or sides. If you put the north end of one magnet to the south end of another magnet, they stick together...
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My Second Chance … Every Single Day
Alaska can be a dangerous place to live. Last weekend, a 5-year-old boy fell into a swift-moving river not far from Anchorage. One moment he was standing at the shore while his mother buckled her...
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Gone fishin’!
Fun times ahead Today, instead of writing, I’m packing for our trip to the river to go fishing. This is no ordinary camping/fishing trip, for a number of reasons. For one, any event that involves...
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An anniversary
The anniversary of the 1964 Good Friday Quake is coming up. On March 27th, it will have been 51 years. That’s a lifetime really, but the scars from the destruction are still visible throughout Alaska....
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Four minutes and 38 seconds
As March 27th approaches, it’s hard to get earthquakes off my mind. Below is a great short film by the U.S. Geological Survey that reveals the scope of the biggest earthquake ever to hit the Northern...
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