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 …
Recently, I saw Everything Everywhere All at Once. I loved it. I loved a movie focusing on someone movies often ignore. I loved the over-the-topness, the maximalist, weirdness. I loved the sincerity and heartfelt storytelling. This weekend I binged watched Undone on Amazon Prime. I didn't plan to binge watch. The story and the animation …
Pictured: Not my character, FWIW, but still a fairly demanding lady. Some authors say their characters take over. Some authors say that's rubbish. The writer is the boss! Well, yes? While I wouldn't say my characters take over, at times, when I'm contemplating the plot, I write the plot a certain way and it just …
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 …
I've been jumping from project to project. The term monkey mind comes to, uh, mind. My ideal self would sit down and concentrate. But at this point in my life, I'll just work with the mind I have. Jumping to a different project might be procrastination. It might be a way to never finish even …
A day late, but Happy Imbolc! Perhaps your corner of the world is like mine right now--cold and coated with ice. Spring will arrive eventually, of course, but in the meantime, there's beauty in the snowy world. There's also dangers for the unhoused and all who must venture on the roads or who can't heat …
I'm usually torn between being inspired and discouraged. When I was a kid, my mother believed in being honest. Perhaps her own mother didn't outright lie, but she certainly wasn't forthcoming. And after the divorce my mom did her best not to speak ill of my dad, but she did in a moment of anger …
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, …
My mom told me I learned my color wheel before I learned my ABCs. It surprises me now how I struggle to use color in my work now. In a high school art class, we had to draw a scene and then paint it. I loved my pencil drawing. It was of my best friend …
Marta Pelrine-Bacon 