Category Archives: Writing Progress

Blog Break: Yes, Kony 2012

Posted on March 7, 2012 by PB Rippey

Click here for the movie. Scroll 1/2 way down their page. Watch. If you haven’t seen the film yet, it’s 27 minutes short and after the first 5 minutes you don’t care how long it is. If, like me, you … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, dog, Fiction, Me and Us, Writer's Angst, Writing Progress, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Quote For The Weekend (Churchill Edition)

Posted on March 3, 2012 by PB Rippey

Anticipating the arrival of this plaque for my bedroom office so that every time I glance up from revising, whether it’s going well, or whether I’m making ghastly grammatical errors, whether my mind is filled with creative synapses, or is … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Fiction, Quotes, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Quote For The Weekend (Poem Edition That May Last Until Next Weekend Due To Secret Project, Beautifying The Ponderosa & After Effects Of Polishing Off Box Of Birthday See’s Candy & Snickers Bar Cake—Which Created The Most Hyper Preschooler On The Planet)

Posted on February 24, 2012 by PB Rippey

This poem won me a fellowship to the Abroad Writers’ Conferences. I debated  thoroughly utilizing the generous benefits of my fellowship and hightailing it to Thailand, especially as my dear, cool, ever-fascinating friend Chris Abani was a workshop leader and how … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Poetry, Writing, Writing Progress | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Speaking Of Poetry

Posted on January 23, 2012 by PB Rippey

Askew , a poetry journal, accepted a poem of mine for their May issue. It’s nice to have an acceptance so early in the year, providing me with impetus to keep submitting my work even when the day starts at … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry, Writing, Writing Progress | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Time Spent

Posted on January 9, 2012 by PB Rippey

Roaming the house looking for my reading glasses when on top of head entire time: a good 15 minutes (additional minutes tacked on when distracted by each room’s white elephant: mound of clean yet hopelessly wrinkled laundry on guest room bed, … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Children's Books, Fiction, middle grade, Pets, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

No Sickness (O My Stars)

Posted on December 26, 2011 by PB Rippey

I remember using the mini food processor chopper thing to within an inch of its life, opening cans of Christmas delicacies like organic kidney beans, tomato paste (yes, organic tomato paste—who knew) and what is Christmas without ye olde Christmas mandarin … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, dog, Faction, Pets, Poetry, Writing Progress | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dive, PB, Dive!

Posted on November 9, 2011 by PB Rippey

Funny—I looked in the mirror and there she was—deep-sea darling—my mind instantly obsessing on the Mariana Trench and how even though it’s the deepest spot on Earth I’m barely acquainted with it and how silly is that for an author revising a novel filled with … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, fish, middle grade, ocean related, Writer's Angst, Writing Progress | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Not Avoiding My Writing

Posted on October 7, 2011 by PB Rippey

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 →

Posted in Fiction, Steps In Promotion, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Avoiding My Writing

Posted on October 6, 2011 by PB Rippey

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 , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

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

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 →

Posted in Fiction, ocean related, Quotes, Santa Barbara, Writing Progress | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

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

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

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 →

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

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

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

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 →

Posted in ocean related, To Explain, Writing Progress | 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 , , , , , , , , , | 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 , , , , , , , | 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 , , , , , , | Leave a comment