• Writing

    What Inspires Me #2

    I recently did the Neil Gaiman Masterclass. Although a lot of what he spoke about didn’t help with personal essays or even memoirs, I did take several lessons away for writing, and life, in general. Tell readers something you hope will stay with them. Dragons can be defeated. Being brave doesn’t mean you aren’t scared. It means you do it anyway even though it is scary. Be honest. Care about characters and make them real for everyone. Give yourself the license to ask questions. “The moment that you feel, just possibly, you are walking down the street naked, exposing too much of your heart and your mind, and what exists on…

  • Book Reviews,  Writing

    A Review: The Getaway Car

    Working on my current manuscript, I have been reading a lot! Writing is reading. You can’t do one without the other. Although I have enjoyed plenty of fiction, I have also been researching with some great reads on writing. I have a pile of books on the topic that will be absorbed at some point, but for now I’ll talk about the ones I have completed since isolation. First is: The Getaway Car, Ann Patchett You will not find it on Ann Patchett’s website, Amazon, or Barnes and Noble. But you can download it here for free. It is a 75-page essay on her biggest lessons in writing. I can…

  • Book Reviews

    Murder at St Margaret

    If you have never heard of or read a cozy mystery, you are in for a treat. They are quick beach reads that features an amateur sleuth, no gore, a hint of romance, a steady pace as the protagonist investigates, and it is all set in a lovely place–in this case Oxford. I had never read a cozy mystery before but my friend Lynn wrote this so I jumped at the chance to be one of her first readers and reviewers. Even though she is my friend, I don’t recommend books to friends that I didn’t fully enjoy myself. This book, I recommend! Murder At St Margaret is an engaging…

  • Writing

    What Inspires Me #1

    It can be lonely work being a writer. “And your taste is why your work disappoints you,” really resonates from the Ira Glass quote above. I keep plugging at it, sometimes with the pace of a molasses marathon, other times with the intensity of a teenage boy who just discovers porn. I have been writing regularly for six years now, with a blog and four unfinished manuscripts to show for it. Since being in isolation, I think I finally understand what has been stopping me from finishing any of these projects. It isn’t a lack of interest, ideas, worth, or motivation. It is the fear of being vulnerable. Being exposed…

  • Book Reviews

    The Woefield Poultry Collective

    I don’t think I’ve ever done a book report that wasn’t required by some curriculum. My goal this year is to finish reading 50 books. I like a little wiggle room for times when the book I am reading is tiresome and it takes longer than a week to read so that is why 52 is just too much of a goal. The book I have recommended the most this year so far is: The Woefield Poultry Collective, Susan Juby This one is worth the price of admission as a satirical look at an NYC girl deciding to make a go of running a farm she inherited. Very few books…