In the spring a writer’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love. And murder. And family drama. And history. And alien worlds. And vampires with a three-legged dog, an unfulfilling career, relationship woes, and daddy issues. Here are ten ways writers celebrate spring. It may not do as much for their house’s curbside appeal as, […]
inspiration
Perfect Writing Conditions and Other Fantasies
It happened again. I looked out my office window this morning, and there was no sign of the turquoise waters of the Caribbean, palm trees swaying in a salt-tinged breeze, or seabirds swooping over frothy waves. Instead, I was greeted by my normal view of my Colorado neighbors’ houses, fresh snow dusting last week’s old […]
12 Things Writers Should Never Tell Themselves
It’s still January. Yes, that longest of months (187 days, by my count) is still with us, dragging its heels through the snow like a remorseless kid being towed to the principal’s office. During January (and its partner in crime, February) it’s easy to give in to cold, dark days. Cold, dark thoughts. Cold, dark […]
Breaking Through the Gloom
Back in September, when we thought we were living through the worst of the pandemic (I’ll pause here while you get that hysterical laughter under control), I’d had it with humanity. Sure, there are a lot of individual humans that I like—love, really—but by September, humanity as a whole had reached a whole new level […]
Art and Smiles in a Quarantined World
I saw one of my favorite bands perform live today. Well, “live” in the sense that at the same time I was watching them online, they were playing together. Well, “playing together” in the sense that although each was playing an instrument alone in their own home, they somehow managed to sync up with each […]
Postcards from New York City
The cabbie, with one hand pressed firmly on the horn and the other making exasperated gestures, crammed his way between a city bus and a gray Rolls Royce while keeping up a running Senegalese-accented and highly colorful dialogue with a colleague on the phone. Dirty snow from last week’s storm fought with piles of black […]
