One way or another a good story punches the gut, grabs the heart, or rattles the brain. And the stories I love give me courage as well. Oh, for those great moments when I read a scene and think--wow, this writer doesn't care what her friends think, what his family worries about, what the critics …
Spoilers
People who set out to ruin a story for someone else are right up there with people who like to ruin Christmas for children. How malicious is it--you're enjoying something I don't approve of so zap! take that enthusiastic person! ha-ha, you're upset and I feel so much better. Rumor has it that a restaurant …
Novel Out of Control
So, storytelling. You do your best to seduce the reader, make her want to turn the page to see what will be revealed, compell him to stay up late to be with you...whatever the genre if you can capture your reader's heart, hats off and trumpets sound and confetti fly for you. At this point …
Writing Lake Belle
Writing a fictional blog (lakebelle.blogspot.com) is fun and not fun, weird and not weird, all those writerly things. To write the blog it is difficult to get into character. I do it for the novel, but the book has dialogue and exposition. In scenes I can step back, describe the scene, set the pace, work …
Love Story
No complaining today about the writing life--just the love instead. The sharing of a great story (not writing my own, which are not great, but i mean reading or seeing someone else's) is a wonderful and amazing thing. I love that feeling that a page or a screen can send straight to the heart or …
Writing Dreams
My current novel-in-progress, my son's current fav film Finding Nemo, and a recent seen flick Stranger than Fiction, have combined forces to infiltrate my dreams. As a character in the dream I put on my best dress and heels and go out to drown in the downtown of a huge metropolitan area. As the writer …
Writer’s Crash
I stepped into my closet tonight and my brain just locked up. It said, "No." I clicked on my fiction blog and again, "No." But I can't quite bring myself to listen so here I am. But I realized that I've been writing every night for at least fifteen nights--some of those nights creating art …
Writer’s Rant
When someone tells me they want to write a novel, but...well, my kind, supportive side wants to hand them a book on writing, to clap and cheer them on, and to believe them. Yes! Go! You can! And then my evil side just wants to roll my eyes and say, "Then sit your butt in …
The Red Shoes
I stay up too late, drink too much coffee, avoid grading papers, put off housework and phone calls, and who knows what else just to sit and write or draw, and while I don't necessarily think there is anything wrong with that (would it be so terrible die in a messy apartment, tired and caffinated …
A Closet of One’s Own!
Who would've thought I could be grateful for broken appliances? The washing machine and dryer broke, and instead of reparing or replacing them, we put them out on the street. This means, of course, that I will be quarter obsessed to feed the machines of the shared apartment complex laundry room, but it also means …
Marta Bacon 