A Return to the Beginning

T.S. Eliot’s Little Gidding. These lines: We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. Circles. Wheels. In Indigenous spirituality, in Pagan spirituality worldwide, as well as in mystical forms of all major religions, this form has…

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10 Hard truths about writing

Recently, a student told me she was too scatterbrained to write her novel without help, and that she needed someone to crack the whip, set deadlines, help her focus, etc.  She said she needed an editor or a partner, or both. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard that sort of thing from writing students.…

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April is the Cruelest Month

Angel, Passy Cemetery (photo by Ron Davis)   April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain. T.S. Eliott – The Wasteland Eliott was right, at least as far as my family is concerned. On Easter Sunday, April 6, 1996, my brother…

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