I just finished my second teaching gig of the summer – a week in the mountains east of L.A. at Idyllwild Adult Summer Arts – and this morning I’m thinking of the people who took my workshop, as well as the ten students who came to the Montana retreat. I’m wondering what everybody is writing…

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In order to be a writer you have to be okay with wasting huge quantities of time. Or what feels like wasting time. As a project oriented, workaholic I have problems with this. Take yesterday – I’m working on an essay for a deadline but I just fooled around for most of the day. Because…

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For any Montana readers coming to my husband’s photography show in Twin Bridges: the date of the opening reception is June 24th, not July 24th. (I’ve since corrected it in the last post.) Thanks to Francesca, my sharp-eyed student for pointing this out.

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The following quote by Frank Smith recently rose out of the chaos of my office – part of  a class handout from ages ago. A student had originally given the quote to me and since I’m not sure who Frank Smith is I just Googled him. There are a lot of Frank Smiths out there,…

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I’ve been doing a lot of thinking the past week about getting feedback because that’s what I recently got – eight pages of single spaced notes about my novel. When you get really serious and tough comments on your work there are various stages you go through. The first stage (in my case anyway) is…

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I love January and the idea of clearing the decks for a new year – cleaning closets, setting up a new appointment book, and yes, making a list of New Years Resolutions. (My family tends to sigh and roll their eyes when I get in this mood.)  I love lists. I can get my whole…

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June 22-27th, 2008, Twin Bridges, Montana. Information coming soon. Workshop leaders:Billy Mernit and Barbara Abercrombie

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From my family to yours – Happy Holidays!

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For those of you who have been following the six weeks of my UCLA Extension course “Courage & Craft” on this blog, and for my students who were there in person – now what?  That’s what everyone wrote about in class yesterday: they’ve been doing homework and exercises in class every week, started writing projects…

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