A couple of years ago (it surprises me it's been that long) I serialized a work-in-progress--The Fairy Tale Asylum. Some lovely writer friends gave me feedback, and now I'm trying to finish it up. Oh boy, are there a lot of changes! I struggle to know when a story is finished. I'll rewrite forever. More …
I asked my students to write a 26 sentence story. The first sentence must begin with the letter A. The second sentence with the letter B. The third with C, and so on. I allowed them the same cheat I used when this was a Story-a-Day prompt--instead of having to start a sentence with the …
I read Rob Walker's newsletter The Art of Noticing. He returns often to lost objects. What lost objects have stayed with you over the years? Why do they matter? But if I still possessed every object lost, I'd be living under a mountain of things, much like the Junk Lady in Labyrinth. I've written about …
I might have finished my novel, The Book of Astrophilia. I say might...it is hard for me to know when something is finished. I'll rewrite forever. And I haven't had a beta reader or anyone give me feedback, and that is part of the process. So is it finished-FINISHED? Well, I've done what I can …
Holidays can be rough. Take today. Not all dads are awesome. Not all dads are here. Not all dads look like dads. I mean, what is a dad exactly? Okay, that's not really where I wanted to go with this. What holiday is rough for you? I'm a mom and like being wished a Happy …
Recently, I saw Everything Everywhere All at Once. I loved it. I loved a movie focusing on someone movies often ignore. I loved the over-the-topness, the maximalist, weirdness. I loved the sincerity and heartfelt storytelling. This weekend I binged watched Undone on Amazon Prime. I didn't plan to binge watch. The story and the animation …
Pictured: Not my character, FWIW, but still a fairly demanding lady. Some authors say their characters take over. Some authors say that's rubbish. The writer is the boss! Well, yes? While I wouldn't say my characters take over, at times, when I'm contemplating the plot, I write the plot a certain way and it just …
When people ask me, "What's your story about?" I have a slight panic attack. Why? I can speculate, but I don't really know. I can't afford therapy. BUT I am excited about the story I'm currently working on. (I'm excited about every story. At this moment, however, I'm also in an optimistic mood. Why optimism …
Way back in the very early 80s, Mom took me on a day trip to hang out at a beach town with friends of hers. The memory has faded, but we had fun, and on the way back home, I said or asked something about the women we'd hung out with that made my mother …
Marta Pelrine-Bacon 