Writer’s life
We Know Not What . . .
Sometimes people ask me why I write. This is a good question, and one I’ll probably spend my life trying to answer. I usually say it’s because when I’m writing I feel as though I’m doing what I am intended to do. I say I write because I’m saner when I do than when I…
Read MoreThe Solace Of Ousia (And Of Reading)
Every morning I spend a little time reading before I begin the real work of the day, which is writing. I choose the books I read in this time slot for inspirational value, either spiritual or psychological or artistic. This morning I finished The Summer of the Great-Grandmother, by Madeleine L’Engle, which is the second…
Read MoreWhat We Talk About When We Talk About 'Voice'
If you’re a writer or someone who loves literature, you probably read the title to this blog and understood immediately that I’m referencing Raymond Carver’s short story, “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.” How wonderful for a writer to be known simply by the syntax of a title, a single sentence, or…
Read MoreNarrative Braid — The Teller And The Tale
The other day in the Sharpening the Quill Writers’ Workshop I lead every month, I talked about what’s known as the Universal Story in narrative — the common structure beneath all kinds of narrative. It has a triune form (as do most fairy tales and religious imagery, but that’s something for another day) and consists…
Read MoreWill I Write Again?
Perhaps it was Philip Roth’s announcement that he’s throwing in the pen that got me thinking about retiring from writing, but the thought has been skittering about in the darker corners of my mind over the past few weeks. It could also be a merely my usual pre-publishing state of mind. My Best Beloved assures…
Read MoreYou Had Me At "Torture."
On this snowy morning, rather than spend my time out frolicking with the Rescuepoo in the drifts (which I promise I’ll do in a few minutes, really, Dog… try and be patient!) I feel compelled to enter into the ridiculous fray surrounding what may be the most unlikely literary pairing I’ve heard in a long…
Read MoreThe Spirituality of Imperfection
I’m re-reading a great book right now, called THE SPIRITUALITY OF IMPERFECTION. Sounds tailor-made for me, doesn’t it? I know, I know. This books speaks to me on several levels — as a person staying sober one day at a time, as a writer, and as someone seeking a closer relationship with the Sacred. In…
Read MoreGreat Way to Start the Morning
Because I am a little neurotic and insecure and oscillate between wanting to be left alone to write and wanting people to remember I exist — in short, you know, a WRITER — I have a Google alert set up. Sometimes it brings me wonderful things, as it did this morning when I was alerted…
Read MoreWhat To Do? What To Do?
I had a phone chat recently with a writer friend of mine. We both have books coming out this spring and are both dealing with the pre-publication jitters. His editor called him to say a blurb for the book had come in and it was a really nice blurb, but the ‘blurbist’ had suggested “a…
Read MoreThe Next Big Thing: Find Out What I'm Working On
Writers are tagging writers in this new questionnaire going around the web. What’s the next big thing we’re working on? Thanks to historical novelist Sandra Gulland for tagging me! What is your working title of your book? “The Empty Room” — it’s the final title. Where did the idea come from for the book?…
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