Author Archives: PB Rippey

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About PB Rippey

Writer, mother, wife, 7th gen Californian, and keeper of the mini-zoo.

Quote For The Weekend

Posted on September 30, 2011 by PB Rippey

“Art is good when it springs from necessity. This kind of origin is the guarantee of its value; there is no other.” “I really do believe that a fiction absolutely self-conscious of itself as a different form of human experience … Continue reading →

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The Elusive Palomino

Posted on September 29, 2011 by PB Rippey

As I was writing/editing and avoiding my laptop’s Internet connection in my bed office yesterday (see canny Zadie Smith quote from previous post), utilizing the sweet patch of me-as-writer time following leg-destroying yoga and before I was to pick my son up … Continue reading →

Posted in Adult writing, Avoiding My Writing, books, Fiction, middle grade, Poetry, poetry reading, Quotes, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Quotes Via Imagine

Posted on September 27, 2011 by PB Rippey

These are floating around Facebook right now thanks to Imagine Marketing. Let the Quotes For The Midweek begin! PS. I love Jennifer Egan. She was a guest at Bread Loaf when I was there and she was so friendly and … Continue reading →

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Notes From The Armchair

Posted on September 26, 2011 by PB Rippey

And how is it going, PB, in your newly rediscovered armchair? Are you working under favorable conditions? Or does the scent of cat pee distract you, just as you’ve made yourself comfortable, laptop on lap, glass of wine on the bookshelf next … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Fiction, Me and Us, Pets, Steps In Promotion, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Quote For The Weekend (Early Edition As Leaving, Again, Briefly, For Cooler Environs That Happen To Include Beach-Whooping, Intrepid Anemone Poking (parent-monitored), Kicked Sandcastles And The Kind Of Fresh Air That Knocks Out Preschoolers And Their Mothers In A Very, Very Good Way)

Posted on September 22, 2011 by PB Rippey

“To stand at the edge of the sea, to sense the ebb and flow of the tides, to feel the breath of a mist moving over a great salt marsh, to watch the flight of shore birds that have swept … Continue reading →

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DUMMY

Posted on September 19, 2011 by PB Rippey

I have a new special writing/revising trick. Starting with the first three chapters of my novel, I copy and paste them into a brand new fresh document, print, then edit/revise/correct/read-aloud/enhance/make-marvelous, etc. I throw the hardcopy edits into the brand new … Continue reading →

Posted in Adult writing, books, Fiction, middle grade, Poetry, poetry reading, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Quote For The Weekend

Posted on September 16, 2011 by PB Rippey

I’ve been so busy writing, I haven’t blogged this week—except for this about my armchair—and now this quote for the weekend. Preschool has started up again at last (which my son loves—who wouldn’t love fingerpainting with chocolate pudding?) and I’ve had the … Continue reading →

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Armchair Magic (With Tall Reading Lamp)

Posted on September 14, 2011 by PB Rippey

Last night I accomplished so much in my new special writing place that all day I anticipated my return. Now that I’m here, typing eagerly, feet crossed and slightly off an ottoman, my spine cushioned far more comfortably than when I’m up against … Continue reading →

Posted in dog, Me and Us, middle grade, To Explain, Writing, Writing Progress | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Free Hugs

Posted on September 11, 2011 by PB Rippey

Because even then I didn’t have TV and iphones weren’t invented yet, I received the news via a phone call from my sister up in Santa Barbara. Shortly after speaking with her, as I sat alone in my little cocoon … Continue reading →

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Quote For The Weekend (Late Edition Due To—Due To—Hm? Wot? Is Someone Speaking? I CAN’T HEAR YOU!)

Posted on September 10, 2011 by PB Rippey

I made up my mind at the beginning of my writing life not to write about my family and friends, since I want them to remain my family and friends. Others, it seems, have come to a similar conclusion. The … Continue reading →

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Poetry Reading

Posted on September 7, 2011 by PB Rippey

On Saturday, October 1st, 7:30p.m., I will be reading with other poets featured in The Pedestal Magazine at Beyond Baroque in Venice. Having just come from an extremely sparsely attended reading by the California Poet Laureate, I’m hoping there will … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, books, Poetry, poetry reading, Steps In Promotion, To Explain, Writing, Writing Progress, WTF | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Llama Laugh

Posted on September 5, 2011 by PB Rippey

His laugh: Vaguely hyena, part labrador-loose-in-the-surf, not mocking, but the tiniest bit cryptic, comically so. He made me want to write. Since it was too wonderfully cold for sitting outside by the fountain and attention-sucking candlelight, for two nights we kept company, this llama and … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Fiction, ocean related, Writing, Writing Progress | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Quote For The Weekend

Posted on September 1, 2011 by PB Rippey

“Write freely and as rapidly as possible and throw the whole thing on paper. Never correct or rewrite until the whole thing is down. Rewrite in process is usually found to be an excuse for not going on.” —John Steinbeck

Posted in Adult writing, Avoiding My Writing, Fiction, Santa Barbara, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Rave

Posted on August 29, 2011 by PB Rippey

I’m only 1/3 of the way in, if that, and: I love it. I judged a book by its cover and my decision is utterly paying off. I’ve read W.G. Sebald. So instead of my brows flying up in consternation/skepticism upon … Continue reading →

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Spa Buzz

Posted on August 28, 2011 by PB Rippey

It sounds silly, but: I survived the MWO. Within an hour of being at our desert spa destination, I toured, floated on rafties in that one charming pool, flew on tiptoes to my chaise, applied Burt’s Bees sunblock to my nose, … Continue reading →

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Quote For The Weekend (early edition due to MWO beginning Friday a.m.–yee haha–er, sorry)

Posted on August 25, 2011 by PB Rippey

In honor of this writer’s upcoming MWO (Mama’s Weekend Out) at a spa in a tiny dry patch of non-descript California where she will experience mud, warm, constant bubbles and pools filled with bodies floating privately on provided rafts (the kind … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Fiction, Quotes, To Explain, Truman Capote, Writing, Writing Progress | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Gypsy Sunset

Posted on August 22, 2011 by PB Rippey

Now that summer preschool camp has come to an end, life is extremely busy as I organize excursions that will benefit the small mind and help it to expand in positive, utterly enriching ways (I’m talking about the enrichment that … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Faction, Fiction, Me and Us, To Explain, Writing, Writing Progress | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Quote For The Weekend: Lifted Edition

Posted on August 19, 2011 by PB Rippey

This quote, by Her Royal PD James, is lifted from writer Laurie Halse Anderson’s site where Laurie is, as always, writing inspiring-everythings, because she cares, then cares some more: “My most valuable trait is tenacity, but what got me where … Continue reading →

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Respite Rant

Posted on August 19, 2011 by PB Rippey

In the past 24 hours my youngest sister and family made it home to Iowa in what was supposed to be a 3 hour tour, I mean a 4 hour flight, but quickly morphed into one of those all-nighter/early-next-morning nightmares during … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Me and Us, ocean related, Santa Barbara, Steps In Promotion, To Explain, Writing, Writing Progress | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Notes From SW

Posted on August 14, 2011 by PB Rippey

Many research scribbles in my notebook, now a crinkled, battered thing from sitting in the soak zones at the marine mammal shows. When you see dolphins, pilot whales and orcas that close, when sharks glide right over your head, when … Continue reading →

Posted in fish, Me and Us, middle grade, ocean related, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Quote For The Weekend: Sea World Edition

Posted on August 13, 2011 by PB Rippey

“Why does Sea World have a seafood restaurant?? I’m halfway through my fish burger and I realize, Oh my God….I could be eating a slow learner.” —Lynda Montgomery

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Sea World Antidote

Posted on August 10, 2011 by PB Rippey

As our trip to Sea World with my son’s cousins nears, I am compelled to post a school of links that will hopefully offset the ocean of hypocrisy I am thrown into by paying steep ticket prices to view the … Continue reading →

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Reveries

Posted on August 9, 2011 by PB Rippey

I’ve been seeing so many people from my past lately—I mean the past past, hazy-rocketing back to elementary school and working up from there—and it’s affected my dreaming. I have hosted reunions in my dream homes, welcoming total strangers to parties … Continue reading →

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Quote For The Weekend (Early Edition As Leaving Town For Environs W/No Internet)

Posted on August 5, 2011 by PB Rippey

If you believe, as the Greeks did, that man is at the mercy of the gods, then you write tragedy. The end is inevitable from the beginning. But if you believe that man can solve his own problems and is … Continue reading →

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Rocking Muses

Posted on August 4, 2011 by PB Rippey

YA Muses are having another contest/giveaway and all week have reposted tons of valuable writing advice. Their story is inspirational–seriously, check them out, especially today’s post. Really wish I was going to SCBWI-LA this year so I could meet them … Continue reading →

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