My UCLA extension class, Novel IV, ended Tuesday. I've said before what a great class it was, and one of the highlights was that the instructor arranged for us to Skype with the author of the book we had studied all quarter, "Middle … [Continue reading] about Talking Story with Charles Johnson
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Fiction Submission Spreadsheet
Rejection is part of being a writer. If you're not getting rejected, you're not submitting enough, and I haven't been rejected in years. For a long time I didn't submit any short stories to journals because I was working on my novel, and it just … [Continue reading] about Fiction Submission Spreadsheet
My New Writing Desk
Moving sucks. We haven't moved in so long, and we've never done it with kids, and there is so much to do, and we've entered the "I know it's here somewhere" phase. Ug. And while getting ready to move, I'm trying to get our current house ready to … [Continue reading] about My New Writing Desk
No Need to Ask
Preparing to move has gotten the better of me. All I want to do is work on my novel. It is coming along very well, better than it has in a long time, and yet, life continues. Lunches need to be made, bedtime stories told, appointments attended, and … [Continue reading] about No Need to Ask
Reverse Engineering a Story
When I started my novel, my thesis advisor suggested I check out a book called Winter's Bone. This was back before it was a movie with the impeccable Jennifer Lawrence staring as the main character, Ree. (Yes, I've been working on this novel for a … [Continue reading] about Reverse Engineering a Story
Feedback on my New Opening
Last week I got feedback from my class on my new opening pages. When I finished the last draft of my story, I asked a former teacher of mine, Rita Williams, to give it a read. Her biggest note was that she felt I came into the story too late. In … [Continue reading] about Feedback on my New Opening
Creative Community
The kids' school tagged a teacher-development day onto this three-day weekend to make it a whopping four-day extravaganza. So I'm sitting here, in the airport, on a Tuesday, after four fantastic days in Northern California, with mixed feelings about … [Continue reading] about Creative Community