Category Archives: Writing

Mini-Break 3: There and Back Again

Posted on July 20, 2013 by PB Rippey

The doctor said a slight fever would come. “Reaction” to a shot. He was feverish for a day. The next, he sneezed and went a little hoarse. But the fever was gone and he was uber-perky and when I meekly told him that maybe … Continue reading →

Posted in Children's Books, Faction, Fiction, ocean related, Poetry, Santa Barbara, Writing | Tagged 2013, beach, children's literature, fiction writing, great white sharks, Los Angeles, Mad Hatter, middle grade writing, ocean, poetry, Santa Barbara, writing | 4 Comments

Mini-Break 2: Undertow (with Wheels)

Posted on July 16, 2013 by PB Rippey

Children blinking through binoculars, squealing at scuttling lizards, swinging very, very high on playground swings, holding hands, but running too fast towards crosswalks, scaling small boulders, building sandcastles for naked Barbies and a collection of Skylander figurines that should never … Continue reading →

Posted in Children's Books, Fiction, middle grade, Poetry, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Tips | Tagged 2013, Barbie, beach, children's literature, fiction writing, middle grade writing, ocean, personal goals, Santa Barbara, Skylanders, writing | 2 Comments

Mini-Break 1: Sun Rays In Fog

Posted on July 8, 2013 by PB Rippey

“Brooklyn!” the mom on the Los Angeles playground called out to her child swinging from primary colored monkey bars. “Careful!” “Chicago!” a nearby dad called to his daughter. “Hold London’s hand, please!” “China and Thai,” cried another parent. “Play nicely!” … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Children's Books, Fiction, ocean related, Poetry, Writing | Tagged 2013, beach, children's literature, Enid Blyton, fiction writing, heatwaves, life, ocean, taxidermy, writing | 1 Comment

Angst (Cheese & Strawberries Edition)

Posted on July 3, 2013 by PB Rippey

When you man your bookshelves for hours, reading first pages because you are maddened by your own first pages and can’t recall how to begin a story or a novel without every palabra jumping out at you with a buzzer sound … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Children's Books, Fiction, Me and Us, middle grade, Poetry, Writer's Angst, Writing, WTF | Tagged 2013, children's literature, fiction writing, life, Los Angeles, personal goals, poetry, writer's angst, writer's block, writing | 5 Comments

Heat Talk (107 Degrees Edition)

Posted on June 30, 2013 by PB Rippey

Everyone in prone positions, some bodies perpendicular to others, some just out there on their own, spanning that one corner of living room rug, some sprawling underneath the chaise longue I try to endure as my son makes mud pies, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Children's Books, dog, Faction, Fiction, Writer's Angst, Writing, WTF | Tagged 2013, beach, cats, chaos, children's literature, fiction writing, heat, labrador, life, ocean, poetry, writing | 2 Comments

Rukeyser, Hawks, Super Moon

Posted on June 23, 2013 by PB Rippey

Odd and disconcerting to write poetry and yet be totally unfamiliar with Muriel Rukeyser’s The Life of Poetry until yesterday, though no alien to M.R.’s poetry and not completely in-the-dark to her biographies and interest in connecting science and poetry, scientific … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Me and Us, Poetry, Writer's Angst, Writing | Tagged 2013, ars poetica, fiction writing, Muriel Rukeyser, personal goals, poetry, sunsets and hawks, super moon, The Life of Poetry, writing | 2 Comments

Poetry Reading (Sunday Edition w/Planet)

Posted on June 9, 2013 by PB Rippey

As I rifle/riffle through poems I’ve written, partially written, not written, but loaded into memory banks with lightly trembling girders—as I search personal archives for something embodying ‘concrete visual imagery’, I am reminded of what a narrative poet I am. … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Pets, Poetry, poetry reading, Steps In Promotion, Writing | Tagged 2013, Amy Gerstler, Billy Collins, Bob Hicok, Elizabeth Bishop, Jorie Graham, Mary Oliver, poetry, Sarah Hannah, Sharon Olds, Wislawa Szymborska, writing | 7 Comments

Quote For The Weekend (Mid-Year Edition Egad)

Posted on May 29, 2013 by PB Rippey

Actually, I don’t have a quote this time. But I do have a friend who, as he struggled with the final revisions of his due-to-be-published novel, literally lost his breath. Instead of celebrating his hard work, he was hospitalized. But he got … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, To Explain, Writer quotes, Writing | Tagged 2013, chicken nuggets, fiction writing, poetry, Today Show, Trader Joe's | 2 Comments

O Hemet!

Posted on May 25, 2013 by PB Rippey

Tomorrow we leave for Hemet for the weekend. Luckily our part of the world seems to be entering a brief cooling trend. Hemet is notoriously hot. And, as if perversely, when waving goodbye to the sun across the flats, or … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Poetry, Writing | Tagged 2013, fiction writing, Hemet, life, Los Angeles, poetry, Ramona Pageant, Scientology, Sloths, writing | 2 Comments

Quote For The Weekend (Seriously Late Edition w/Rabbits)

Posted on May 20, 2013 by PB Rippey

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. —Anne Frank We tend to rotate which charities we give to monthly. Save The Children often tops the list. Also the Mae Tao … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, dog, Fiction, fish, Parakeet, Pets, Poetry, Writer quotes, Writing, WTF | Tagged 2013, Anne Frank, cats, dog, domestics, fiction writing, fish, Kahoots, labrador, life, love, Mae Tao Clinic, poetry, quotes on writing, Rabbits, Save The Children, writer's angst, writing | 2 Comments

Write it Down, Sherlock

Posted on May 14, 2013 by PB Rippey

As I scrub whatevers at the kitchen sink, thinking about Hadley Richardson because I’m reading The Paris Wife, mostly thinking how wrong the book’s cover is considering its subject, I’m wondering if I’ll ever have a book cover of my own to … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Children's Books, Fiction, Pets, Poetry, Writer's Angst, Writing | Tagged 2013, Arabians, CNN, fiction writing, horses, hulu, OJ Simpson, personal goals, Quatrains, Sherlock Holmes, The Paris Wife, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, writing | 7 Comments

Luke Put Up Your Visor

Posted on May 10, 2013 by PB Rippey

Look up. I was looking at Leroy, watching him think about calling everything off–his ears twitched and he swung his head weirdly to the right, because of me—and my Type A procrastination. Look up. I looked up—trees, that house perched precariously … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Children's Books, Fiction, Poetry, Writer's Angst, Writing | Tagged 2013, Cavalia, children's literature, dressage, fiction writing, Odysseo, poetry, preschoolers, riding lessons, stallions, writer's angst, writing | 1 Comment

Ding Dong

Posted on May 8, 2013 by PB Rippey

If each of us would only sweep our own doorstep, the whole world would be clean. —Mother Teresa A quote I’ve posted ad nauseam. It’s not easy, focused sweeping. Constant practice is necessary (for me). There is no one I can hire … Continue reading →

Posted in books, dog, Fiction, Poetry, Writer's Angst, Writing | Tagged 2013, cats, doorsteps and lintels, fiction writing, Mother Teresa, poetry, preschoolers, Rothko, writing | 2 Comments

May Tonic (Cursing-in-Private Edition)

Posted on May 4, 2013 by PB Rippey

Trying to use a voucher for 3 free rides to Catalina Island and being told there’s no room on the boat by a severely rude someone you find it extremely difficult to dredge any compassion for simply because of their tone—noticing the pink … Continue reading →

Posted in Adult writing, books, Fiction, Me and Us, ocean related, Poetry, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing | Tagged 2013, beach, Catalina Island, fiction writing, hee hee, Lavender Fields, Los Angeles, Martha Stewart, ocean, personal goals, Pink Flamingo, poetry, Sestinas, Swear words, writer, writing | 4 Comments

April Lines

Posted on April 29, 2013 by PB Rippey

What a gift-packed month. Poetry has crammed my inbox daily. I went to a Rhapsodomancy reading at the Good Luck bar and listened to knock-you-off-your-feet lines from poets with poetry-spewing-volcanos where scalps should be. 1 day of NaPoWriMo left. So go on. Go write. You know you … Continue reading →

Posted in Adult writing, Avoiding My Writing, books, Fiction, Poetry, poetry reading, Writing | Tagged 2013, beach, children's literature, fiction writing, Naomi Watts, NaPoWriMo, Olympic stadium, poetry, preschoolers, Rhapsodomancy, Sliver Linings Playbook, writer, writer's angst, writer's block, writing | 1 Comment

Voices

Posted on April 25, 2013 by PB Rippey

I stopped typing and froze in the bed office. A voice was in my house. Deep. Half whisper-in-a-frightening-tomb, half ogre-stuck-in-a-well. I set aside the laptop, rose from the bed office chair and peeked into the hall. No one. Except the … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Children's Books, Fiction, Poetry, Writer's Angst, Writing, WTF | Tagged 2013, chaos, fiction writing, Game of Thrones, Macaws, preschoolers, Star Wars, Starbucks, writer's angst, writing | 2 Comments

Na? No. Hope? Yes.

Posted on April 19, 2013 by PB Rippey

Amidst the latest horrifying US events, poetry—much of it fresh off the brain—whirls tirelessly through every non-existent corner of the internet. Look: In dark times, people go looking for poetry and I’m glad there is plenty to assuage, aid, comfort and … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Fiction, Poetry, poetry reading, Writing, Writing Progress | Tagged 2013, dog, fiction writing, Herman Hesse, Jane Hirshfield, labrador, poetry, The Dad Poet, Walt Whitman, writing | 4 Comments

NaNaNana Hey Hey Hey NaNa

Posted on April 11, 2013 by PB Rippey

Written next to the flower (see previous post): Tipping between lost and grateful; never traveling with grace or without sound doubt; raking up luck-bits when the world sleeps in its stifling old box; kissing the future into strum; hunkering down, … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Children's Books, Fiction, Poetry, Writing | Tagged 2013, children's literature, fiction writing, middle grade writing, poetry, Starbucks, sunflower, writing | 4 Comments

Update 2: NaMeSitDif (etc.) Projekt

Posted on April 10, 2013 by PB Rippey

Since I forgot to Na on Monday, as I promised myself, and since I didn’t Na on Tuesday due to pressing engagements (Target, the teeth people), upon leaving the stables today I stopped at a No’ridge Starbucks on my way home, hobbling delicately inside, … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Children's Books, Fiction, Poetry, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress, WTF | Tagged 2013, African elephant, DSW, fiction writing, middle grade writing, poetry, Starbucks, thoroughbred, Western Bagel, writer's angst, writing | 2 Comments

Update: NaMeSiDifStaDaiWri(expletive)Po

Posted on April 9, 2013 by PB Rippey

I forgot to go on Monday. Ummm…And here is a cat.

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Children's Books, Fiction, middle grade, Poetry, Writer's Angst, Writing | Tagged 2013, cats, fiction writing, middle grade writing, personal goals, poetry, Starbucks | 3 Comments

Quote For The Weekend (Unchaste Edition)

Posted on March 22, 2013 by PB Rippey

True poets should be chaste, I know, but wherefore should their lines be so? —Catullus (Gaius Valerius, of course…) Of course he loved Lesbia! Sheesh. Get over it. Hopefully he ultimately got over it, IF he wasn’t 30 when he … Continue reading →

Posted in Adult writing, Avoiding My Writing, Fiction, Poetry, poetry reading, Writer quotes, Writer's Angst, Writing | Tagged 2013, Catullus, fiction writing, life, poetry, quotes on writing, Rome, Sappho, Whole Foods, writer, writer's angst, writing | 2 Comments

To All Rejections

Posted on March 14, 2013 by PB Rippey

To all rejections: I am building a cathedral. I am building a cathedral. I am building a cathedral. I am building a cathedral. I am building a cathedral. I am building a cathedral. I am building a cathedral. I am … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Children's Books, Fiction, middle grade, Poetry, Quotes, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress, Writing Publications, Writing Tips, WTF, YA Novels | Tagged 2013, cathedrals, children's literature, empires, fiction writing, life, middle grade writing, personal goals, poetry, quotes on writing, Salisbury Cathedral, writer, writer's angst, writing | 5 Comments

Old Town Poetry

Posted on March 11, 2013 by PB Rippey

I invited a friend to a poetry reading. 6 years ago this would have been a normal request of any of my friends. But now I’m a mom. Now most of my friends are mothers and working mothers and mothers with working-OT-husbands–thus … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry, poetry reading, Writing | Tagged 2013, AWP, cocktails, fiction writing, life, Los Angeles, Pasadena, poetry, poetry readings, preschoolers, San Fernando Valley, Sushi Roku sushi, writer, writing | 4 Comments

Clues

Posted on March 3, 2013 by PB Rippey

So it’s time to leave the Little House and tear him away from several days of precious Pottery Barn living and Angry Birds on the Kindle at odd hours and foods we don’t normally eat at home, like grated-cheese-and-nitrate-free-bacon-quesadillas-for-breakfast-with-1-maraschino-cherry-on-top, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Children's Books, dog, Fiction, Me and Us, ocean related, Poetry, Santa Barbara, Writer's Angst, Writing | Tagged 2013, angry birds, beach, dog, Dr. Seuss, fiction writing, Kindle Fire, labrador, middle grade writing, ocean, personal goals, poetry, preschoolers, Santa Barbara, writer, writing | 4 Comments

Flu 2

Posted on February 28, 2013 by PB Rippey

When I’m sick like this (somewhere near the darker side of the middle line between healthy and barely-not-dead), my limbs melted into the mattress, not asleep, though not alert, vaguely hearing my son and husband pretend-Kung-Fu in the living room, my brain distresses … Continue reading →

Posted in Children's Books, Fiction, Poetry, Writer's Angst, Writing | Tagged 2013, Aimee Bender, children's literature, fiction writing, flu, Hollywood, Kauai, Marcel Proust, ocean, writing | 7 Comments