Do you ever google people from your past? Hmmm? Well, okay. So. I set my novel in 1985 because that's when I was a teen and because I didn't want to deal with cell phones and google. I used my hometown as a starting point for my novel. But then my fictional town of Lake …
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.
Is that the best you can do?
In high school I spent one year on the yearbook staff. I started the class really excited, and I ended the class hoping never to speak of it again. When my mother saw the section I'd worked on--the advertising section, which I hated but did work hard on--she said, "That doesn't look very good. That's …
Why is it dark in here?
Recently I joked, "I could've written a light comedy." And my husband replied, "I don't think you have light comedy in you." A friend said, "It's odd because you're a funny person." Hey, I didn't set out to write a dark, emotional novel. I started with an image and went from there. But I don't …
A Plum Heart
Today a new friend in my life puts her heart out into the world. Her heart should be lifted up and celebrated. Well, perhaps every heart should be. Forgive the potential sappiness. But sometimes sappiness is okay. We don't have to be all edges and armor every day of the week. (Anyway, I don't know …
Editing Rehab
Hello. My name is Marta, and I'm an editaholic. I've spent hours editing, gotten lost editing, and been unable to remember what I just wrote after editing. After a long night of editing, I've woken up with strange characters in my head. During my breaks at work, I'd be eating my lunch and sneaking in …
Editing at Night
My novel needs work. Every novel needs work. Pick your favorite novel. Is it perfect in every way? What might make it better?Why do people like poorly written books anyway? I hear this a lot about very popular books, "It's not well written, but..."It must be well written on some level or it would be …
Plum Friday: Self-Sabotage and Support Systems
My publisher has a passion. You see that passion in what Plum Tree supports. Soon, Plum Tree will put out a book and hold an art auction to raise money to help people in Sahel. Where is the Sahel? Here. A piece of my art is part of the auction, too. I know that many …
Continue reading Plum Friday: Self-Sabotage and Support Systems
The Case of the You-Shoulds
My art is almost always black and white. Some people tell me to do more in color. Some people make it clear they would like my if it were in color. I like color, but I don't like what I do with color. Not when it comes to real paper and ink. But I've been …
Editing: The Mutant Virus Edition
If you want to be a published author, you have to edit your work. No matter the publishing path, editing is along the way. Sometimes editing makes me feel like I know what I'm doing. Really. I see the problem. Take my pen to it. Look at the page and see all those marks, and …
The Past–there’s always more of it.
A couple years ago I took to writing small bits of memoir in this space. I didn't set out to. Those life stories just fell into place--though I'd never had a desire to write a memoir. It was a writing memoir, every story connecting to the writing. I stopped. Maybe I was repeating myself. Maybe …
Marta Bacon 