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PB learns to ride the unicycle!
UPDATE: my unicycle hangs from a hook in our garage. Sometimes I tell it: I'll be back.January 1, 2025-
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Category Archives: Writing
Double Rainbow (Rainy Day Edition)
Not long ago a man left a nasty little comment in my comments section calling my blog piece sophomoric and trite and something else I can’t remember and why this person was so unevolved as to blog-roam and drop his … Continue reading
Posted in books, Children's Books, dog, Fiction, Poetry, poetry reading, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress, WTF
Tagged 2014, cats, children's literature, dog, double rainbow, fiction writing, Goodreads, life, Los Angeles, middle grade writing, poetry, Rhapsodomancy, writing
2 Comments
Notes From The Retreat #2: Critiques
Yes, I am going to go here. Out of the 10 copies of the first 25 pages of my novel returned to me, scribbled on by the writers in my core group at the SCBWI retreat, I kept 4. Those 4 … Continue reading
2013 Middle Grade
Oh, productive, on-the-button-always (not the panic button), well-informed you—you’re already aware of this list. I’m just getting to it. I think I’m most excited about Holly Black’s book. Quite creepy! The Goodreads Best Middle Grade & Children’s Any flagrant omissions from … Continue reading
Walking to Floats (SoCal Edition)
Rose Parade Floats Viewing, January 2nd: I walked my son several blocks down a typically—for Pasadena—vast and nicely swept boulevard to another major boulevard (wider than the Rio Grande and as sungleamy in our December heatwave) mobbed by people like us … Continue reading
Posted in Avoiding My Writing, books, Children's Books, Faction, Fiction, Writing, WTF
Tagged 2014, fiction, Los Angeles, Pasadena, poetry, Rose Parade floats, shaved ice, space aliens, writing
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As 2014 Looms (Looming Edition)
The minivan’s A/C died just in time for the Christmas heatwave of 85+ degrees. As I ferried us home from a visit to the ocean’s cool and calming vastness (all windows dooooown), I remembered my one and only Christmas poem, which includes … Continue reading
Posted in Children's Books, Faction, Fiction, Poetry, Writing
Tagged 2013, beach, California, Christmas, fiction writing, fresh batik, Los Angeles, palm trees, poetry, scotch, Venice Beach, writing
2 Comments
December Whinny
Sitting on the patio at Peddler’s Fork, alone out here as it’s a SoCal pre-Christmas bit of chilly, i.e., 60 degrees, way too cold for the cycling clan packing the tables indoors, brrr, but perfect for me as I’m the … Continue reading
Posted in books, Children's Books, Faction, Fiction, Poetry, Writing
Tagged 2013, children's literature, fiction, middle grade writing, Old Town Calabasas, Peddler's Fork, personal goals, writing
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Kickstarted (Coffee Blend Edition)
Back again—homing pigeon style—at Peddler’s Fork, I ordered a cup of the restaurant’s Kickstand Blend and a macadamia nut infused scone that tastes more like somebody’s gourmet birthday cake than scone, which is why I ordered it, and carted my … Continue reading
Posted in books, Fiction, Poetry, Writer's Angst, Writing
Tagged 2013, fiction writing, Kickstand Blend, Los Angeles, Mallard Ducks, Muses, Old Town Calabasas, Peddler's Fork, pigeons, poetry, writing
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Bathroom Reading (Scouring Edition)
While holiday cleansing the bathroom, on my knees scrubbing corners usually in my blind spot, I glance up and notice books also, apparently, usually in my blind spot. I have no idea when Dylan Thomas arrived. Definitely wasn’t me who … Continue reading
Posted in books, Children's Books, dog, middle grade, Poetry, Writer's Angst, Writing
Tagged 2013, children's literature, domestic bliss, Dylan Thomas, fiction writing, Freshly Pressed, Henry James, Kindergarten, life, Los Angeles, middle grade writing, Nicole Kidman, personal goals, poetry, Portrait of a Lady, Reader, Sherman Oaks, The Turn of the Screw, writing
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Flashback: Yesterday (Turkey Edition)
In the thick of it, I remember thinking: It would be nice if this was catered, but then the caterers would be working on Thanksgiving. I prepped a millennium of food the night before–even so, that didn’t mean there was … Continue reading
Handy Resources
Brainpickings has compiled a nice list of 9 writing resources. Some are oh so familiar, perhaps all are to you. But I’m glad to be reminded of them. And quotes such as this one by Kurt Vonnegut, which you’ve probably … Continue reading
Posted in Fiction, Quotes, Writer quotes, Writer's Angst, Writing
Tagged 2013, books, fiction writing, Francine Prose, Kurt Vonnegut, Mary Pickford, poetry, quotes on writing, Ray Bradbury, St. Jerome, Stephen King, writer's angst, writing
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Food Glorious Food
Speaking of bon bons, I think I’ll switch to madeleines. But stick with coffee, not tea. For now. Coffee served in a teacup? Even better. The Telegraph is featuring 10 Great Meals in Literature. A fun little slideshow. Especially the Dickens … Continue reading
Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Children's Books, Fiction, Writing
Tagged 2013, fiction writing, life, Los Angeles, madeleines, Marcel Proust, poetry, The Telegraph, writing
4 Comments
Gobbling Towards Vegetarianism
It became November. Day Two, I said: OMG THE TURKEY! Because this year, we’re hosting the beloved horde. I navigated to the Whole Foods website. During the Diestel ordering process I was asked to choose: Hen or Tom. My bedroom … Continue reading
Posted in books, Children's Books, Faction, Fiction, Writing, WTF
Tagged 2013, chaos, domestics, fiction writing, green bean casserole, poetry, San Fernando Valley, Thanksgiving, Tom Turkeys, writing
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The Truth Is…(Maintenance Edition)
The truth is, I’m way too busy to blog—sprawling on the couch eating bonbons takes up a lot of time. And let me make this extremely clear: NOT milk chocolate bonbons with cherries tucked inside them. If I was even … Continue reading
Posted in Children's Books, Fiction, middle grade, Pets, Poetry, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress
Tagged 2013, cats, children's literature, chocolate, chocolate bon bons, dog, domestic bliss, fiction writing, life, Los Angeles, memories, middle grade writing, Reader, writer's angst, writing
8 Comments
Appreciation (pre-Dinner Edition)
Recently my husband and I listened politely to a woman with green fingernails and an iphone with a ringtone that sounds like something Michael Flatley would raise his knees to—listened as this lady (dressed in a tunic the distracting green of fairy-forest canopy) told us … Continue reading
Posted in Children's Books, Me and Us, Writing
Tagged 2013, fiction writing, leprechauns, Sunsets, writing
3 Comments
3 Cubs & Dodgers
Father/Son Dodgers Game!, the elementary school flyer stated, producing an amendment a week later: Due to unprecedented interest in attendance by moms, grandmothers, grandfathers and 3rd cousins twice removed, Father/Son is expanded to Family Dodgers Game! So we all went to … Continue reading
Posted in Fiction, Me and Us, Writing, WTF
Tagged 2013, baseball, Chavez Ravine, Dodger Stadium, Dodgers, fiction writing, Kindergarten, Yasiel Puig
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On Roald Dahl’s Birthday
Sometimes I let the agent I’m querying know who my literary heroes are. Only ‘sometimes’ as my query letters tend to change. Evolve? Products of endless, restless experimentation…On Roald Dahl’s birthday I was thinking: I always forget to put Roald … Continue reading
Posted in Children's Books, Faction, Fiction, Writing, WTF
Tagged 2013, children's literature, fiction writing, James and the Giant Peach, Kindergarten, middle grade writing, Reader, Roald Dahl, writing
5 Comments
Quote For The Week: Diana Nyad (Butterscotch Cookies Edition)
Find a way. —Diana Nyad I briefly interrupt evening reading time to announce I’m zooming to Albertson’s for eggs for tomorrow’s scrambled egg jamboree and ask my spouse if he needs anything from the store. In the Daffy Duck brogue he utilizes when … Continue reading
Bad A** Naid’s Nyad (Git Yer Goggles On Edition)
I didn’t know Diana Nyad was attempting the Cuba/Key West, FL swim again. So when I returned from Labor Day shenanigans, I went a little happy-ballistic upon reading about her success. I tweeted, I FB’d, I emailed friends. I worried … Continue reading
Secret Equestrienne (Before Morning Coffee Edition)
$300 boots in the local saddlery. Gorgeous. And nothing a budget-minded, secret equestrienne would ride in. So the Amazon dot coms that arrived by mail shocked me. At $94+change, they looked way too regal for the price. I was expecting spray-painted cardboard. … Continue reading
Posted in books, Fiction, Poetry, Writing, Writing Progress
Tagged 2013, Amazon.com, Calabasas Old Town, Equistar Riding Boots, Homer Simpson, horses, International Velvet, Kindergarten, Tatum O'Neal, The Scream
3 Comments
Chirp
The colony of house finches thriving in the trees outside our bedroom windows begins the chirping frenzy around 530/6am and they never fail to wake me up—but I beat them to their cacophony this morning, fueled into consciousness by thoughts of Big … Continue reading
Mini-Break 4: Summer Flu (Mr. Darcy Would Not Approve)
I see from Facebook that those of us women afflicted turned to the BBC’s 1995 Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. No coincidence. Those empire-waist dresses (so cheerful) and perpetually bouncing ringlets, lush countryside and obvious magnetism help … Continue reading
Posted in books, Children's Books, Fiction, Poetry, Writer's Angst, Writing
Tagged 2013, Bath, cats, children's literature, dog, domestic bliss, fiction writing, Jane Austen, Jane Austen Society, Kindle Fire, Los Angeles, ocean, poetry, Pride and Prejudice, writing
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PB Rippey Writes 
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