2013 nears death. Not that our calendar rules the world, but it is the way I measure time thanks to happenstance of birth. Death was nagged at me a great deal this year. A cancer diagnosis and a heart condition will remind anyone of mortality. I feel lucky to be alive. How old were you …
Author: mapelba
I'm a writer, artist, teacher, mother, wife, daughter, friend, coffee addict... What else? A success, a failure, a mess, a fan, a hater of housework, a lover of dogs, a liberal, an obsessive, and a bunch of other things that probably would never occur to me. I reveal myself in more ways in my writings and art than in any list of adjectives. And whoever you are, I hope most of all that you are a reader.
Halfway out of the Dark
I wish everyone the best this holiday season. Perhaps it is a joyful time for you. Perhaps it is difficult. Perhaps it means nothing at all. Whatever your situation, I wish you all good things now and always.
The Solstice
The year is approaching its close. January 1, 2013 I met with a surgeon. I didn't have a cancer diagnosis yet. In fact, the surgeon said that with my case history and profile, I had less than an 8% chance of having anything cancerous. Five surgeries and months of chemo later, I am not officially …
What’s in a Title?
I'm rewriting another manuscript. A few years ago, I thought this manuscript was done. I even gave it to people to read. But the more I thought about it, the more unsure I became. I pulled the story out and started going through it again. Now, I've cut chapters, added one character and deleted another. …
The Past Stays Present
I've written about this topic before, but it is on my mind again. I don't know why. It stays with me. A classmate of mine was murdered in 1981. We were in the same 8th grade history class. I'd spoken to her only once or twice. She was just a girl who sat in the …
Getting Back to Normal Perhaps
Recovering from surgery seems like a good time to blog again. But after I recover from this surgery, I'll start taking Tamoxifen and that should be it. Except for checkups every three months (until I graduate to every six months and then to once a year), all this cancer stuff should be behind me. I'm …
The Watership Down Effect
I found a beat-up copy of Watership Down on my mother's bookshelf. I was in the 7th grade and especially interested in reading what my mother read. A few weeks after finishing the book, I read it again. And before 7th grade was over, I read it a third time. The next summer I tried …
The Blue Jar by Marta Pelrine-Bacon
A lovely write-up someone did for me. Nothing like having something you've created reach someone else.
Save the Audience
Fran Lebowitz said the audience is important to the culture. I hadn't thought of an audience this way. I mean, yes, I've read a thousand times, "Know your audience." That rule I've failed to follow. Who is my audience? My demographic? I know more who it isn't more than I know who it is. But …
Finish Something
One thing I want to do is make hand made books. I've got no market for handmade books and one book takes a ton of time, so they aren't practical. But they're fun, and I'll probably make more. Years ago, I started a story about two rabbits, Ink and Mirabelle. This weekend, I finished one …
Marta Bacon 