Category Archives: Fiction

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 2011, chaos, children's literature, domestics, fiction writing, life, personal goals, writer | 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 →

Posted in Adult writing, Fiction, Quotes, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing | Tagged 2011, fiction, fiction writing, personal goals, writer, writer's angst, writing | Leave a comment

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 2011, beach, chaos, ocean, writing | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in Adult writing, Avoiding My Writing, books, Faction, Fiction, Me and Us, ocean related, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress, WTF | Tagged 2011, children's literature, domestic bliss, domestics, fiction, fiction writing, life, personal goals, writer's block, writing | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in Adult writing, books, Fiction, Quotes, Writing | Tagged 2011, fiction, Lillian Hellman, writer, writer's angst, writing | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in Fiction, To Explain, Writing | Tagged 2011, chaos, domestic bliss, life, SCBWI, toddlers, writing | Leave a comment

Believe & Succeed

Posted on August 1, 2011 by PB Rippey

This month’s inspirational/motivational quote glaring at me on the calendar by my bed desk states the following (said in the throaty/heady voice Sir Ian McKellan uses when Gandalf): B E L I E V E & S U C C … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, To Explain, Writing, Writing Progress | Tagged 2011, fiction, fiction writing, hobbits, movies, personal goals, quotes, writing | Leave a comment

Tra La La

Posted on July 28, 2011 by PB Rippey

And now there is no time to be afraid of anything as tomorrow my son and I once again head N.O.R.T.H. Our beach awaits. As do sisters and cousins and beachside cafes and grilled cheese sandwiches made by someone other … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Fiction, Me and Us, middle grade, ocean related, Santa Barbara, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress | Tagged 2011, beach, middle grade writing, ocean, personal goals, writer's retreat, writing | Leave a comment

Watermelon People, For Instance

Posted on July 15, 2011 by PB Rippey

My head and my brain are still at the writing retreat, clicking away, processing vitals, etc. I hope they are enjoying themselves. I returned home with my son to a house packed with visitors both human and canine, dinner for 8 … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, books, Faction, Fiction, middle grade, ocean related, Santa Barbara, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress | Tagged 2011, beach, children's literature, fiction, fiction writing, life, middle grade writing, ocean, writer, writer's angst, writer's retreat, writing | Leave a comment

The Baby Blessing (With Writers)

Posted on July 11, 2011 by PB Rippey

So the baby blessing took place in my mother’s faintly overgrown backyard, guests’ heads thunked by falling trumpet vine blossoms (they are as large and as heavy as some sandwiches), the mingling of shadows and vines and succulents forcing the … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Faction, Fiction, Me and Us, middle grade, ocean related, Santa Barbara, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress | Tagged 2011, buddhist monks, children's literature, fiction, fiction writing, life, middle grade writing, mystery writer, ocean, personal goals, screenwriting, toddlers, writing, Zen | 1 Comment

When I Write

Posted on July 1, 2011 by PB Rippey

I might wake up many times during any night due to: Nightmares involving fedora-wearing aliens intent on making off with my son. The certainty that I have heard a loud noise, which means rising from bed and checking my son’s room and the rest … Continue reading →

Posted in Adult writing, Avoiding My Writing, books, dog, Faction, Fiction, Me and Us, middle grade, Poetry, Steps In Promotion, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress, WTF | Tagged 2011, cats, chaos, children's literature, dog, domestic bliss, domestics, fiction, fiction writing, labrador, life, middle grade writing, personal goals, poetry, toddlers, writer, writer's angst, writer's block, writing | Leave a comment

Going Home

Posted on June 26, 2011 by PB Rippey

The problem with zipping up to my hometown some weekends is not the going-home-traffic turning 75 miles into 750, not that I rarely get any writing done because of the endless activities, not the June gloom (kindly vanishing for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Me and Us, Santa Barbara, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress, WTF | Tagged 2011, beach, fiction writing, life, ocean, personal goals, writer, writer's angst, writing | Leave a comment

Harsh Is Harsh

Posted on June 21, 2011 by PB Rippey

Read the 30 Harshest Author-On-Author Insults In History, compiled by writer Emily Temple for Flavorwire: http://flavorwire.com/188138/the-30-harshest-author-on-author-insults-in-history Here are a few samples: 27. Harold Bloom on J.K. Rowling (2000) “How to read ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’? Why, very quickly, … Continue reading →

Posted in Adult writing, Fiction, Writer's Angst, Writing, WTF | Tagged 2011, fiction, fiction writing, writer's angst, writing | Leave a comment

How Do I Really Feel

Posted on June 20, 2011 by PB Rippey

When an agent lets me know why he/she is passing on my manuscript after a request to read more (but not all), do I honestly appreciate the feedback? Do I? As I morph into the spitting image of Munch’s scream subject (obviously a multiply … Continue reading →

Posted in Adult writing, Fiction, middle grade, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress, WTF | Tagged children's literature, fiction, fiction writing, middle grade writing, personal goals, rejection, writer's angst, writing | Leave a comment

Quote For The Weekend

Posted on June 18, 2011 by PB Rippey

PS. They’re real “I need an hour alone before dinner, with a drink, to go over what I’ve done that day. I can’t do it late in the afternoon because I’m too close to it. Also, the drink helps. It … Continue reading →

Posted in Adult writing, books, Fiction, fish, Me and Us, ocean related, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing | Leave a comment

Quote For Saturday

Posted on June 11, 2011 by PB Rippey

Easy reading is damn hard writing. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne

Posted in books, Fiction, Writing, WTF | Tagged 2011, fiction, fiction writing, writer, writing | Leave a comment

Notes From Here

Posted on May 30, 2011 by PB Rippey

Beach as mental equalizer (despite persistent wind). Impossible to crack open a book or uncap a pen here (though not because of wind). The way the sand is riled, looks as though whole, transportable cities (twirling towers of particles) are whisking … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, books, Fiction, Me and Us, ocean related, Santa Barbara, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress | Tagged beach, fiction, fiction writing, life, middle grade writing, ocean, personal goals, writer, writer's retreat, writing | Leave a comment

Help

Posted on May 15, 2011 by PB Rippey

Kathryn Stockett on her rejections and perseverance in More. Memorable quotes: A year and a half later, I opened my 40th rejection: “There is no market for this kind of tiring writing.” That one finally made me cry. After rejection … Continue reading →

Posted in Adult writing, Book Club, books, Fiction, Writer's Angst, Writing | Tagged fiction, fiction writing, personal goals, writer, writing | 2 Comments

Quote For Forever

Posted on May 8, 2011 by PB Rippey

“People always say that to be a good writer you have to read; that sounds like they’re collecting ideas and information. But what it ought to mean is that you have to be able to read what you write critically. … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Writing, Writing Progress | Tagged chaos, fiction, fiction writing, personal goals, writer, writing | Leave a comment

No Whining

Posted on May 6, 2011 by PB Rippey

No whining when it’s hard to write/revise because: 1. because a dog charged your cats at 6:00a.m. and in her haste to control her animal, the owner, lunging across your front yard and bashing into the wall below your kitchen … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, dog, Fiction, Me and Us, middle grade, ocean related, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress, WTF | Tagged beach, children's literature, dog, domestic bliss, domestics, fiction, fiction writing, life, middle grade writing, ocean, personal goals, writer's block, writing | Leave a comment

YA Muses Contest

Posted on May 4, 2011 by PB Rippey

If, like me, you welcome critique on your WIP, which is actually a complete novel you can’t stop revising, then visit the YA Muses and participate in their contest. The prizes are very generous. I hope I win. Something. Thank … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Fiction, middle grade, Parakeet, Writing | Tagged 2011, children's literature, fiction, fiction writing, life, middle grade writing, personal goals, writer, writing | 2 Comments

Finished

Posted on May 2, 2011 by PB Rippey

Perhaps it’s in bad form to compare this novel to the Twilight series, but I am struck by how much more horror-packed credible dystopia is than books with credible, contemporary vampires and their various friends and foes. Yes, I’m still … Continue reading →

Posted in Adult writing, books, Fiction, Writing, WTF | Tagged children's literature, Dystopia, fiction, fiction writing, Rudyard Kipling, toddlers, writing, Young Adult fiction | Leave a comment

The Chalk Speaks

Posted on April 15, 2011 by PB Rippey

Posted in Adult writing, Book Club, books, Fiction, Writing | Tagged book club, fiction, fiction writing, life, writing | 2 Comments

There’s No Place Like Hush

Posted on April 7, 2011 by PB Rippey

It’s April. I’m quiet. I’m revising. Being a vigilant mother. Cooking for house guests (i.e. Costco-ing for house guests). Hulu-ing Parenthood (help me, Obi Wan—it’s my only vice). Typing in my quips on Facebook (help me, O.W.—it’s my only other … Continue reading →

Posted in Adult writing, Avoiding My Writing, dog, Fiction, Me and Us, middle grade, Parakeet, Steps In Promotion, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress, WTF | Tagged aliens, children's literature, dog, domestic bliss, domestics, dreams, Facebook, fiction, fiction writing, life, middle grade writing, nightmares, toddlers, writer, writing | Leave a comment