My writing career is not going anywhere in as much as I've no books published and agents aren't even walking down my street, much less knocking down my door to invite me out. But of all the books written in the world, only a certain number can hit the shelves. Probably what I need to …
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.
Plum Tree Books
Plum Tree Books is a new publisher venturing into the world. They're a publisher with a heart and a mission. They believe in paying it forward, helping writers, and sharing stories.
They are also kind enough to use my art. Thank you, Plum!
Go see for yourself.
Moving to the Asylum
I can't get myself to close this blog all together. I might want to move back one day and I like the name. But how I feel about this space needs more than a theme change. It is called writing in the water and I've felt compelled to write only about writing. But I've got …
Temporarily Closed for Negativity Repairs
The demons of negativity, jealousy, and whining have overrun the controls. The experience is sort of like squirrels in the attic except rabid and able to reproduce by the minute. These demons are also surprisingly agile and long-lived. They particularly love nibbling on generosity of spirit and better nature. I am attempting to starve them …
The Year of the Towel
Obviously, blogging isn't everything. I just turned 43 (The Year of the Towel come to an end without the answer to life, the universe, and everything...), and I didn't even blog about the day. I've lost my way. A long time ago I told true stories...but that well is empty. I came across this video …
No Witnesses
I'm reading this book about the films of John Hughes. Of course, I'm rethinking those dreaded high school years. Sure, I hated high school, but perhaps my animosity towards former classmates is a bit unnecessary. My classmates were not that awful. Many teens have far more unpleasant experiences. Anyway, while reading one of the essays …
The Nicest Guy!
Because of facebook, I now know that a certain individual from my hometown is having serious health problems. He and I are not facebook friends, but we've known each other since we were five. Well, he was five and I was four. Anyway. On facebook a mutual friend posted about his illness and asked people …
The Wrong Explanation
Why I Write by George Orwell...have you read it? Many other writers have taken this title and run with it. Have you? When non-writers ask, "Why do you write?" maybe they should be asked, "Why don't you?" What if all written words vanished? What if every written word in the world--in every language--drifted up into …
The Dreaded Sensible Limit
Every single thing I can think to write sounds like whining. And nobody wants to read whining any more than they want to hear whining. Still, I feel compelled to say I'm not visiting other blogs these days and I've barely written anything in the last few weeks. Adding two classes to my schedule may …
The Dreaded “A” Question
I hate the "A" question. So, I read a blog post by my friend JES regarding the "A" word--as in What is your novel About? An agent is currently looking at my first novel, and this "A" question is on my mind. My first novel is about a difficult subject...a conversation stopper subject. Now let's …
Marta Pelrine-Bacon 