When I left my job at FedEx I also left behind an organization that provided plenty of in-person contact with people. I anticipated that this would be the hardest part of being a writer, so I put systems in place to allow for human interaction in a way that supported writing. I became more active…
Month: March 2020
Countdown: Six Stories Left
As promised, today’s post is another countdown post. Last night I turned in the 46th story in 46 weeks. I have only six stories left before completing The Great Challenge. This one titled “The Cat’s Assassin” follows Tzipporah the day after her engagement to Lev. She intends to take care of a few minor errands…
Hide and Seek With the Muse
Lately it’s been hard to write. I’m not sure why. It could be the chaotic time we are living through. It could be that I’m not sleeping enough. It could be that my office is too messy. Who knows? It’s not a lack of ideas. I have no trouble coming up with ideas. It’s the…
Dare to Be Bad
Yesterday three friends talked to me about their fears of the blank page, which is a real fear that seems to lie in wait for many writers. I have some writing friends who say that they never experience it because writing is their escape. That’s never been true for me. Writing is something I actively…
Stories, Time, and Life
Yesterday I talked to my husband about “time-boxing,” trying to figure out how to schedule myself and how to deal with habits I built up over the course of two years being up-ended. Then last night I received a kind gift from Kristine Kathryn Rusch: her book on Time Management. It felt as if she…
All Your Choices are Cumulative
One of the amazing things that happened to me at Superstars was a brunch with James A. Owen, writer and illustrator of Geographica Imaginarium books and so much more. He encouraged us to be our best, to do our best, and then to tell people about our products without undue modesty. At the end of…
Countdown: Seven Stories Left
Last night I turned in the 45th story in 45 weeks which means just seven more stories before I finish the Great Challenge. I’m pretty excited by that. This week’s was another cat story, this time set in a contemporary setting: “Viral Vengeance.” Evie’s bank account bleeds money but she can’t go out and make…
Bread and Love
Yesterday I ground grain and made a loaf of whole wheat bread. I also made my own soy milk from Laura Soybeans (the absolute best for making soy milk). It felt good. As if I were coming back to my strength. I’ve always been something of a food hoarder. It wasn’t that I was a…
Imaginary Lovers
I weathered the anxiety of the aftermath of 911 by turning off the news (eventually) and steeping myself in imaginary love affairs. I turned my anxiety into passionate intensity. I dithered about who to have an affair with. I worried about the ethics. I considered all the possible ways things could go. I planned the…