Your novel is published and you see someone reading it. Do you introduce yourself? Leave the room? Spy? Tonight at my art show I watched students, friends, and strangers look at my work. Because of the text, they usually lean in close and read the bits and slices of my novel. One student asked me …
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.
Start Your Writing (Would it help if your pen made a revving noise?)
The smart Sarah Stockton posted this article on Facebook. I'm not sure I'll be able to sleep. If you want to be a writer, perhaps take the time to read it. Just a thought. And while your at it, watch this.
Secrets Messages
My mother had to design an advertisement layout for Albertson's. The ad would be running on my 11th birthday, and my mother snuck in a birthday message for me on the horse. I knew it was a sign that she loved me. I'm still looking for signs. Signs that other people think I can write. …
A very merry unbirthday to you, to you…
"Happy Birthday," my students shouted when I walked into the room. I turned around, confused, wondering if they were talking to me. On the chalkboard I saw a birthday message with lots of smileys around my name. But it was April. A coworker had told all the students it was my birthday even though he …
Take the Stairs
Some days just drain the imagination, drive, and determination. This little video was a nice gleam at the end of a long gray day. What do you do for fun anyway?
Maybe I’m too tall to write a short story.
Writing a short story feels like going out without my makeup on and my hair done. What writing comes more naturally to you? What puts your writing in the best light?
50k is all you need.
Well, November is rolling in closer--and I've signed up again for NaNoWriMo. I've already got an idea and a title to go with it. What about you? Any takers?
Cultivation, anyone?
This evening I read this line from Molly Crabapple in The New York Times: What you get in life isn't about how much you cultivate your talent; it's about how you cultivate your name. Early today I talked to a woman whose children go to my son's school. We have friends in common, we've chatted …
Gifts, please.
"You never make any art for me," my son says. "A.," I reply, "yes, I have. You have a picture on your bulletin board over your bed." "Let me go see," he says. He runs to his room. He runs back. "Not in a frame," he says. "You never make me art in a frame." …
So much sifting…
I'm sifting through ideas and have little to say. I'm also trying to finish several short stories. When the stories are done, I'll have to decide what to include in my MFA application... If some of you have the time and inclination, I'd love to have a reader. Let me know if you wouldn't mind …
Marta Pelrine-Bacon 