The legendary writer Ursula K LeGuin died on January 22  in her home in Portland, Oregon. She was 88 and leaves a long legacy of  novels, stories, essays, poems, and musings. It goes without saying that she inspired millions, including many writers. Her website  is a wonder and includes a link to her blog and […]

Amid our lovely unfurling autumn here in the Pacific Northwest, the world seems to be crumbling. Tune into the news and one nightmare after another–monster hurricanes, a devastating earthquake in Mexico, and the senseless mass shooting in Las Vegas–keep happening. Then there’s climate change.  Living in the now has never seemed harder. Trusting humankind more […]

It’s full-on summer. and nights are again growing quiet after the raucous explosions from Fourth of July celebrations. Roses are spilling over throughout town, heat blasts from the sky until it bakes everything below including the miserable clay soil I’ve inherited in this yard, the roads are filled with campers and trailers, vacationers heading to […]

Null as in useless, fluffy, redundant phrases and words. Clutter of the writing kind. They take up space but don’t add to meaning or resonance. Let me explain. I’ve been editing again and have been working on some exciting projects. The cannot-wait-to-see-in-print kind. I’ve also been writing a few articles on style and how to […]

We’re in the second week of January and the Portland area has come through another snow and ice storm. The southern part of Oregon has accumulated a lot more snowfall than we have although the nearby Cascades boast record snowfall levels. My Facebook friends’ photos of snowy wonderlands have left me with a bad case […]

As a writer it’s your job to curate and guide your readers scene by scene through your story. Your narrator or viewpoint character is  the conduit or lens through which the reader ‘sees’ the story. Scene building begins with defining the conflict and action of each scene and understanding your  viewpoint character’s main feelings/emotions, how these […]

There’s a lot of whining among writers. I’ve never quite seen the like among other groups; say among plumbers or glass blowers or dentists. We seem to believe that kvetching is part of the writing lifestyle. We think wrong. And heaven knows there’s a lot of procrastinating and wasting time. Not to mention all the […]

Our daily lives are filled with insipid details, background sounds, and habitual responses. There is both sameness and comfort in the dailiness of our routines, the furnishings and clutter in our homes, the alarm clock buzzing each weekday morning. And our storytelling needs bits of this day-to-day normality to establish an authentic and breathing world.  Within […]

Nothing creates suspense and fear like a potent, evil, will-take- prisoners villain. A good villain is the stuff of nightmares and will haunt the reader long after the story concludes. The best villains create genuine feelings of vulnerability in characters and readers. As in make your blood run cold. Here’s a round-up of tips for […]

As always, keep writing, keep dreaming, have heart