I still have my little altars of objects and treasured things. We still have hundreds of books. No one is ever going to walk into this house and say, "Are you a minimalist?" I feel that's important to make clear before I again mention that most trendy of lifestyle phenomenon names Marie Kondo and confess …
Maybe the word of the year, or at least of January, is Kondo. Have you Kondofied your home by any chance? I had no intention of watching Netflix's Tidying Up with Marie Kondo. I hadn't so much as picked up her book to judge the cover. But curiosity got the better of me (and I …
Resolutions take time to root. Most are caught by prevailing winds and carried off to the horizon, not seen again until perhaps a birthday or the next New Year. I've been thinking about resolutions and the wisdom and foolishness behind them. Obviously, a resolution can be made on any day. There is no cosmic law …
Welcome to the New Year. What are you looking forward to? What is good in your life right now? I've decided to plow ahead with goals and dreams in spite of fears of disappointment. I'm not going to list all my goals (mostly important only to me anyway), but I thought I'd comment on one …
Optimism is not my fuel. Numbers and Optimism don't appear to be friends. Do they? Sometimes they might hangout together, but forever hitched they are not. I look at the numbers of agents and publishers and people trying to become authors and I'm not optimistic those numbers are going to work in my favor. But …
How do you travel from one year to the next? I shall not dwell in the mistakes and failures, though I hope I'll find the lessons in the year's wreckage to pack them up and carry with me into the new year. I shall not make resolutions which end up being pitfalls and snares. I …
I'm sitting down to rewrite my sci-fi fairytale. It's be a lie to say I know I'm doing. The story may be more than I have the skills to handle. But what's the point of it if I'm not learning and challenging myself? It will be amazing if I can pull it off! That is, …
National Novel Writing Month ends soon. I reached 50k the day before Thanksgiving, but I've continued to write every day. I worked on the universe I created a few years ago during another NaNoWriMo. Much of these details and backstory will never appear in the novel, but these things should help the world feel real …
The witches gather together to prepare. Try to stop them if you dare. They cast their spells far and wide. They call for the spirits of those who've died. "Who among you stood up for the weak? We offer this moment for you to speak. Tell us you comforted, you encouraged, the small, you opened …
On the inside flap of my friend's magical tale, you'll find this quote from the National Post. "One cannot help but want to spend more time in the company of these witches." Well, yes. Please. Though to be honest, more than being in their company, I'd like to be part of their company. But I …
Marta Pelrine-Bacon 