Every now and then it’s important to venture out of the writing cave and do some other creative pursuit. In this case, I thought I’d try cooking. So, before I go any further, let me explain that I’m not the cook in my household. My hubby is. Except for days he has to work late. […]
writing journey
The Writing Journey: A Day In the Life
Everything that’s created comes out of silence. Your thoughts emerge from the nothingness of silence. Your words come out of this void. Your very essence emerged from emptiness. All creativity requires some stillness. Wayne Dyer Writing a novel (at least for me) is never a straight line. There are lots of false starts, going backwards, […]
The Story Behind The Story: “This Happened to Jessica”
Years and years ago, the idea behind “It Began With a Lie” flickered into life. The premise of a book, returning to a childhood home that may also be haunted, ended up, well, haunting me for decades. I shared the story around how I finally got myself to sit down and write “It Began With […]
The Writing Journey: Sometimes You Have to Regroup (plus, an update on “This Happened to Jessica”)
In the book “Bird by Bird” by Anne Lamont, there’s a funny scene about writers accepting criticism. I’m paraphrasing here, but she describes how she has friends who read drafts of her books and then call her to give her feedback. She talks about how great it is that they’ve taken the time to thoughtfully […]
The Story Behind the Story: It Began With a Lie
When I started “It Began With a Lie,” the timing was anything but convenient. It was March of 2015. If you’ve been following my Writing Journey series, you’ll notice that was roughly midpoint between when I sat in ICU alone with my mother, convinced it was her last day on earth, and when she actually […]
My Writing Journey: Breakdown #2
It was September, 2014. My mother, who had been diagnosed with cancer in 2012, was in Intensive Care in the hospital. “Come now,” my father had said on the phone. So, of course, I did. And, that was the beginning of my week in ICU hell. My mother was on a breathing tube, so she […]