I've been watching videos about cutting up books. I love cutting paper, my own writing included. I love making things like this paper city in a box and other layered paper concoctions. But then...what do I do with them? Well, that's a problem for another day. In the meantime, what is it about paper that …
Story-a-Day September has begun. Usually I have a theme or plan, and the plan this time around was going to be working my princess detective novel. And I am working on that, but when I sat down on September first, an image of a wolf on a hill popped up on my head. So I …
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, …
Yesterday, I said I'd make something everyday. Today, I made a tiny book and did some writing. (It's impossible for me to share everyday, but I'll post when I can.) I worked on my story The Princess Detective. Here is a scene an early chapter of the manuscript. The Princess opened the door. “Jaffine!” Indeed, …
I'm reading Craft in the Real World by Matthew Salesses. It's a book I wish I'd had years ago. It's a book I needed to read. And it's a reminded that no matter how much you think you know or how openminded you think you are, there is always light to shine in the dark, …
I've been making books. And I'll be selling them on Etsy. I've also been writing my Fairy Tale Asylum story. (You can read installments here--see menu bar--or subscribe via Tiny Letter.) Honestly I've been stuck with what to write most of the time. Maybe it's pandemic brain. Everything I think of seems better said by …
Sometimes I read articles about other writers and artists (like today, this one here), and I want to dive into a story of my own and make something as exciting. Well, I can't do a comic book or anything like that, but in some interviews, I can feel the enthusiasm come off the page and …
May 2014 ends today. I spent the last few days in Las Vegas for a friend's wedding, and I completely dropped the proverbial ball on writing for Story-a-Day May. I didn't gamble in Las Vegas, not even with a slot machine. Most of the time, lights, sounds, people overloaded my senses. But I had a …
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 …
I've stopped participating in online conversations about self-publishing vs. traditional publishing. Every person has to follow their own way, as we know, so I don't see the point in even having those conversations. I mean, who cares anyway? But I love the idea of making my own books. I've made a few in the past. …
Marta Pelrine-Bacon 