Sometimes you have to change your plan. I tend to put a lot of thought into my plans, and can therefore be resistant to changing them. But the universe is going to do what the universe is going to do, plans be damned. My novel was published by the late, great Plum Tree Books/UK. This …
This week I’m remembering the first novel I ever fell in love with. I read voraciously as a child, going through all the books in the children’s section of the local library and reading during classes instead of paying attention to the teacher. But Watership Down was a book on my mother’s bookshelf. I was …
Back in the late 70’s my mother made a stop-animation film for a college class. I remember looking at the set she’d built on a table in her apartment and her warning me that if I touched it, she’d kill me. The project took a very long time. A tiny bit of film, she’d move …
When I write, I sometimes listen to music. The music fits either the mood of the story or the personality of the characters. The other day, I had the chance to collaborate on a music show with London DJ Claudio Fiore and with my publisher, Plum Tree Books, that tells the story of the music …
My novel launched today! (Here at Amazon.) Since the story is set in the summer of 1985, I’ve been thinking back to those high school days. What were you like in high school? I wasn’t popular. I liked to be in the art room with a sketch pad or a book. The drawing posted here …
Today I finished chemo. One surgery remains. The toxins will leave my body, my hair will grow back, and I’ll get to call myself a survivor. But aren’t we all survivors if we make it to another day? I don’t know, but I find survivor a strange thing to call myself. Many people are kind …
Well, not really. And I’m not someone who tries to talk to the dead because I don’t think they’re listening. But anyway, Plum Tree Books wrote about poetry and death–two things often seen together–and the post suggested trying to write a poem with the title I Can Talk to the Dead. I am not a …
We all have a story why we write or make art or create whatever it is we create. How far back does the story go? Does my story go back to the first book I fell in love with? (Watership Down) Does it go back to my mother’s love of books? My grandmother’s love of …
I hid the babies in my closet. There were three–baby rabbits that fit in the palm of my hand. The stray cat that had taken to sleeping in our carport had killed their mother, and my step-sister and I found the babies in the dirt by the pool. N. wasn’t living with us anymore, but …
I finished Story-a-Day May! I wrote every single day and ended up with probably 29 stories or scenes I can polish up or use somewhere. And even though I’ve ended up re-publishing my first novel on my own, that isn’t what I want for the rest. Or I don’t think it is. My dithering about … Continue reading
I don’t have enough room for all the things. Minimalism seems to be popular these days. But not in this house. I like layers of things. I like layered clothing (which isn’t much of a thing living in a hot climate). I like collage, pictures glued over images and found objects glued on top. My … Continue reading
I don’t have many pictures of my step-sister. The ones I had, her mother took when they left. These holidays are weird. At least, I think they are. My Facebook feed is filled with sibling photographs. They’re great. I cheer everyone who loves and can stand to be around their siblings. It’s one thing I’ve … Continue reading
After I wrote about why I was participating in the women’s march, the why question continued to hum in my head. Or maybe the question had changed somewhat to why certain things bother me so much and why do I believe the way that I do. Everyone thinks they’re right, of course. How does it … Continue reading
I’m thinking about why I’m participating in the women’s march today. It’s fine if people disagree, but I’m not writing this to change minds or justify myself. Because I’m not going to write anything here that’s going to change anyone’s mind. I don’t write to preach or persuade. I write to understand. Putting words on … Continue reading
Not everything we fail to see is a unicorn. I saw the lovely movie Hidden Figures yesterday. Have you seen it? In the film, you see what it could mean for a black woman to need a bathroom. Katherine Jackson has to run so far from her desk in whatever the weather and in heels … Continue reading
To state the obvious, I haven’t posted here in a good long time. I could say I’ve been busy. But we’re all busy. I think I’ve developed a bit of a phobia about blogging. You can’t have missed the vitriol spewed over the Internet. Just take a look at the Facebook fan page for the … Continue reading
