Sometimes the universe delivers you the perfect poem. That’s what www.poets.org did for me this morning. As you’ve been hearing for lo these many years, I have been rewriting a novel I couldn’t let go of. Last week I let go of it and sent it to my ever patient and wonderful agent. Then this…
On April 6th I’ll turn soixante-quinze; I’m telling you this in French because it’s too startling for me to deal with in English. But right now I’m writing a character who’s forty-one years old; I’m writing her in the first person and thinking how lucky…
I’ve had this idea for a book for ages, but there are three other ideas ahead of it, so I thought I’d just fool around with it on the blog. Every road sign I see seems like a metaphor, a little message for writers. Hence: The Writer’s Road. (And perhaps someday it will be a…
An unpublished novel of mine has been lurking in my office for the past five years. I feel like I have a corpse in the cabinet. I finally realized I had to either deal with it or bury the damn thing. I’ve decided to deal with it. It’s got a great plot but I could…
Both are taking place in Lake Arrowhead, California. The writing retreat will be held the weekend of October 19-21 at the UCLA Conference Center right on the lake. It'll be a weekend to escape chaos and to focus on your writing in a beautiful setting with workshop sessions and delicious meals. More details to come.…
Life does not come neatly packaged in plots. This is one of the many, many reasons it's so hard to be a writer. Not only do you have to write but you also have to figure stories out – who wants what and why, who did what, and then – what does it all mean. …
If you love to travel, I'm the companion from hell. Or to be less dramatic about it, simply the most boring person you could possibly take a trip with. R. and I are in Hawaii visiting his daughter and a grandson and I'm in a hotel room writing. The view from the room is above…
The above picture has nothing to do with this post, but this is what happens when you return home from Hawaii to cold and rain and don't feel like writing, so you sit at your desk taking pictures of the rain with your iPhone. * * There was wonderful line by Walter Kirn in…
I just sent the most recent draft of my novel to my brother for his comments and felt enormous relief. Why? I wondered. It certainly wasn’t the draft of my dreams; I was deep into angst about it. In truth, I loathed every word. The night before at dinner I had moaned and groaned to…
What is truer than truth? Stories, says Isabel Allende. Check out her passionate, funny and inspiring speech at this link. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/204
