How goes National Novel Writing Month, you ask? Okay. Maybe you have not asked, but it is a question I'm asking myself. I've managed to pick up a cold this weekend, which hasn't helped. (I've taken two covid tests, and both came up negative. And I've checked various websites about symptoms--cold, flu, or covid19? Cold. …
Twenty years ago, when I first heard of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), I thought, "Whoa. That's madness." But I was also intrigued. The next week year, I gave it a try, and I loved it. Did I write the best novel ever? No. Of course not. Some folks complain about NaNoWriMo producing too many …
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 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 …
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 …
In the New Year I haven't made any resolutions. I happened to walk more recently than I usually do, but I started a few months ago walking regularly again, so this was just extra. I'd like to make it a normal thing, and as I pondered how to do so, my ratty over 15-year-old walking …
Things are changing in our house. (Though life is change, so when are things not changing?) I'll be starting my second job (losing time I've spent writing and making things) and our teen has started college. Then there are the outside forces, the Delta variant and the changes to our climate and whatever-in-the-all-the-levels-of-hell our rage-filled, …
Back in the early 90s, I shared an apartment with one of my best friends, and we listened to this album a lot, especially when we were cleaning up the place. https://www.youtube.com/embed/q_rbjg2k6cI This song in particular has been in my head today. "Sometimes you're the windshield. Sometimes you're the bug." I'm definitely feeling like the …
I love StoryaDay. Often when I post about it, someone tells me why they can't do it. And there are many valid reasons for not taking part. Nothing is for everyone. (Well, air. That's generally for everyone.) So my love of it and participation in it is not me knocking on your door like a …
There was a large spider on the floor-length curtains. Large is relative, of course. I'd say it was about the size of the palm of your hand. I've told this story before, but this is in case you missed it. And the point this time is different. I was probably five or six. Before this …
Marta Pelrine-Bacon 