Small stone #8

Amid the laughter of volleyballing teens, the creaks of bicycles and the soft pop of parasails full of marina breeze, a tiny bird flies over the ice cream stand and alights on a fence wire to watch the beach.  A toddler sees and waddles forward, two steps, one step, three steps, spellbound and hesitant.  TheContinue reading “Small stone #8”

A Writer’s Notebook: writers talk writing

Today I’m offering three conversations about writing I’ve had with three different writer friends. The exchanges are a bit long, so I’ve divided this post into pages to help organize things. Check out the “table of contents” to skip to the section you’re interested in (but really, you want to read the whole thing). WhyContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: writers talk writing”

Another post from How Not To Write

I’m in the midst of some frustrating revision right now–two stories giving me headaches and another taunting me from the shadows, though I did pull off a long but good revision of a novel excerpt last week–so this new post from Jamie Grove on revision hell is well timed.  Wonder if Jamie actually saw myContinue reading “Another post from How Not To Write”

Three principles of writing

I wish Jamie Grove posted at How Not to Write more regularly, because even when I disagree with some of his ideas about writing (which is very rare), he always gets me thinking about the craft and the process.  Today’s post, “Charles Dickens – Three Principles of Writing,” is a great example and a wonderfulContinue reading “Three principles of writing”

Small stone #2

The shadow of a pigeon bobs across the rhombus of window-light on my bedroom floor, like a puppet playing for my amusement.  A cloud passes outside and the window-light fades until only my floor remains.  What happens, in such a moment, to the shadow-puppet bird? I’m participating in the River of Stones project in January.Continue reading “Small stone #2”