The day is starting under a smudged sky and  I’m happy to report rain arrived  last week–a lovely relief in our baked, thirsty part of the world. And autumn is in full swing–halleluja. Yesterday I walked along leaf-strewn paths on a small nearby mountain and while it’s covered mostly in Douglas fir trees, the big […]

I was moon gazing last night because I couldn’t sleep so plunked down on my front steps looking up at it’s pearly face and endless mystery. I’d recently returned a manuscript and memo to a client and so my thoughts drifted to her story and characters. And just for fun, I imagined Kate the protagonist […]

Last July The New York Times David Marchese featured a delicious interview with the multi-talented, British creative Phoebe Waller-Bridge that I recommend because it captures  a point in her career while she’s sought-after and succeeding with  exciting new ventures. Whilst she has had a storied career, bejeweled with Emmy statues and accolades, who would have […]

Another layer of ice arrived last night, which means another day of seclusion in our ongoing storm saga. Next week it’s going to warm up to the 50s, so hooray for that. But the warmer temperatures won’t revive the many fallen giants around here. Trees, that is. I’ve mentioned them earlier in the week here, […]

Reprise Again 1975. Just out of the Iowa Workshop. Working adjunct at three different schools. And when it came time to work each night, would pace, near sick with fear, before I’d sit down to try it, try putting something down, anything. I don’t know why I was afraid, since NOTHING in one day’s work […]

Storytelling in its many forms allows readers to enter immersive, dramatic situations, where interesting people tackle intriguing and often harrowing problems. Now these problems can be sordid or heartbreaking or seemingly hilarious–I’m remembering a Sue Grafton novel where PI Kinsey Millhone illegally enters a house and crawls in through a dog door. Not surprisingly she’s […]

Well, we’re galloping through October and the region is finally getting real, soaking, save-our-parched-earth rainfall around here. In fact, we had a booming thunder storm–a rarity in the Pacific Northwest. But since November and NaNoWriMo {National Novel Writing Month} are just around the bend, I wanted to mention a few things about starting a novel. […]

Just as every dark and stormy night, party, holiday, or bustling office on payday are infused with mood, so are scenes in fiction. Mood infects and reinforces the reader’s emotions, aids in understanding key moments, and enhances his or her enjoyment of the story events. Mood is the feel or atmosphere or ambience of a […]

  Where would we be without dogged journalists and writers who uncover difficult truths, facts, and problems that need solving? Who help protect our fragile democracy. Who work towards accountability and justice. My profound congratulations to all the Pulitzer Prize winners, including Darnella Frazier for her Special Citation for courageously filming George Floyd’s murder. Her […]

I’ve been purging my office and as I  toss old receipts and rearrange books I’m finding scraps of paper with scrawls and tidbits on them. So I’m lassoing all these jottings. A single word on the back of an envelope says ‘waft’.  Now, waft is in my vocabulary, and I’ve used it in writing, but […]