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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
Writer’s Day 2011
This photo is from the SCBWI Central-Coastal Writer’s Day 2010, at which I won a Special Mention for my middle grade novel and half off the price of this year’s Writer’s Day, which took place today, all day, and in which … Continue reading
Posted in books, Fiction, middle grade, Writer's Angst, Writing
Tagged 2011, Lin Oliver, middle grade writing, SCBWI, Writer's Day 2011, writer's retreat
2 Comments
Quote For The Weekend (Late Edition As was Ocean-Distracted–Luckily It’s Never Too Late For Quotes)
“One of my favourite places to read was my elder brother’s bedroom. It was a tiny room with a bed, a chest-of-drawers, bookcases full of books, and shelves where he kept his seashells, butterflies, pressed wild flowers and microscope, because … Continue reading
Posted in Fiction, middle grade, Quotes, Writing
Tagged 2011, beach, children's literature, fiction, Joan Aiken, middle grade writing, ocean, The Cuckoo Tree
1 Comment
See? Not So Proud
Tripping on stage at the very end of a performance, during the denoument, the final vital monologue. Tripping. So hard, so clumsily, there was no hiding it. Tripping. So that everyone in that theatre was yanked out of their suspension of … Continue reading
Quote(s) For The Weekend
“I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, … Continue reading
Not Avoiding My Writing
See previous post. Now read this: THE PASSAGE OF AT LEAST 2 UNINTERRUPTED HOURS There is no blogging when working. There is no Hulu and bad actors living with dinosaurs. No Elephant Man. No social network. No Internet. They just. … Continue reading
Avoiding My Writing
10:04p.m. Have been snuggled in writer’s armchair for 90 odd minutes, laptop on lap and discovered the following: Steve Jobs is dead, there are pictures of the Degeneres/de Rossi BH “lovenest” and you can look at them, The Pioneer Woman is giving … Continue reading
Posted in Avoiding My Writing, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress, WTF
Tagged 2011, elephant man, Facebook, Joseph Merrick, lol, Steve Jobs, who am I, why no popcorn why, wine and writing
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Quote For The Weekend
“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
Posted in Writing
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The Elusive Palomino
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 2011, fiction writing, middle grade writing, Modern Family, palominos, personal goals, poetry, preschoolers, TV, writer's angst, writing, Zadie Smith
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Quotes Via Imagine
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
Posted in Quotes, Writing
Tagged 2011, Facebook, Jennifer Egan, quotes on writing, writer, writer's angst, writer's block, writing
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Notes From The Armchair
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 2011, cats, creamsicles, domestic bliss, domestics, fiction writing, life, personal goals, writer's angst
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DUMMY
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
Quote For The Weekend
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
Posted in books, Quotes, Writing
Tagged 2011, children's literature, domestics, His Dark Materials, middle grade writing, personal goals, Philip Pullman, preschoolers, writing
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Armchair Magic (With Tall Reading Lamp)
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 2011, cats, dog, domestic bliss, fiction writing, Marcel Proust, middle grade writing, T-Rex, writing
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Free Hugs
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
Quote For The Weekend (Late Edition Due To—Due To—Hm? Wot? Is Someone Speaking? I CAN’T HEAR YOU!)
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
Posted in Fiction, Writing
Tagged 2011, Carol Shields, fiction, fiction writing, The Stone Diaries, writer, writer's angst, writer's block, writing
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Book Rave
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
Posted in books, Fiction, Writing
Tagged 2011, fiction, fiction writing, Ransom Riggs, teen drama, W.G. Sebald, weird books, writing
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Spa Buzz
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
Quote For The Weekend (early edition due to MWO beginning Friday a.m.–yee haha–er, sorry)
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 2011, life, martinis, Truman Capote, writer's retreat, writing
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Gypsy Sunset
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
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Quote For The Weekend: Lifted Edition
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
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