Many moons ago I took a class from an instructor who shall remain nameless. I often felt bad for the rest of the class because most nights the lecture degraded into me and this (very smart, talented) woman arguing over what constituted art. She … [Continue reading] about What Makes Art Art?
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On Contradictions (and Love) In Fiction
Randall Jarrell (American poet/novelist) said "When you organize one of the contradictory elements out of your work of art, you are getting rid not just of it, but of the contradiction of which it was a part; and it is the contradictions in works of … [Continue reading] about On Contradictions (and Love) In Fiction
Thoughts On Blogging From the Rents
Thank you to everyone who participated in my survey last week. It turns out that about 2/3 of you think a post should be between 100 and 500 words. Not too long, not too short. The other third voted for good long posts of over 500 words and I have to … [Continue reading] about Thoughts On Blogging From the Rents
A Poem For Thanksgiving
With the craziness of Thanksgiving upon us, we may not always have time to write, but we can always be soaking up beauty for future reference. Here, a poem from the 14th century, Persian poet Hafiz which always makes me smile: The Happy Virus I … [Continue reading] about A Poem For Thanksgiving
In Search of the Perfect Post
It occurred to me this morning that I've been blogging away for over a year without giving much thought as to how long my posts are. I tend to lean toward the shorter, snappier post, but I was wondering if perhaps I should be spending a little more … [Continue reading] about In Search of the Perfect Post
The Social Media Dilemma
I've been thinking a lot about how my professional and personal lives overlap, especially in relation to my online activity. As a writer, who blogs about my own writing, there are bound to be personal details that come up (for instance, I'm due to … [Continue reading] about The Social Media Dilemma
Environmental Heritage as Inspiration
I was talking with my mom the other day about inspiration. She's an artist (working in clay these days - check out her blog: Burning Clay) and she told me she took a long drive back to her home town recently to soak up some of her heritage for … [Continue reading] about Environmental Heritage as Inspiration