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Month: January 2014

Why Utah Set Me Off

I want housing for the homeless to be designed by men and women who have been homeless. I want us to ask: where would be most convenient for you? What do you want in terms of size? What community space do you want? Do you want a front porch? I want us to care enough to design space useful to people instead of putting folks in available apartments...

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16 Truths about Revision

Things I have re-learned from this round of revision on The Bone Trench, my manuscript about Mother Mary and Jesus called back Memphis by a private prison project: Description must flow from the character observing it Description works best when in motion (e.g. She wore a tight skirt vs Her tight skirt tugged as she bent to pick up the skull) Too...

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The Slant of the Poet

Sometimes, poetry has to teach you how to read it. Valeriu DG Barbu’s poetry at his blog http://valeriudgbarbu.wordpress.com is like that. Poet, writer, and playwright of Romanian origin settled in Rome, Italy, Mr. Barbu writes in English, Italian, and Romanian. I love the unpredictable imagery in his work, the sudden change in direction. Each...

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The Allure of Normal

Some blogs I’m drawn to because, like me, they are so odd. I like Luanne because she is so normal. Luanne Castle blogs at writersite.org. Her blog has been featured on Freshly Pressed, quite an achievement. Yet she responds to every comment posted on the blog, responses that actually engage the commentator in conversation about the issue she’s...

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As I Write, I Will Weep

She was no more than four years old, black-headed and petite, a land-based water bug. We were at the beach, a place where she absorbed comfort from her mom and grandmother and whole entire family. She took my hand and led me onto the sand. The moon shone above. Otherwise, the night was dense, dark, the sand itself invisible. She, with more courage...

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A Lifelong Marathoner

My eyes were supposed to correct in five days. Because I have astigmatism, the process might take up to three weeks, the eye doctor said. Only yesterday, in the middle of my third month, did my eyes settle into the new routine. I could see. I’ve changed my life for this process. Every night, I set my alarm for six hours ahead. Every morning,...

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From God to Satan: Blogs of Strangers (cont’d)

I love quirky humor. I love, love, love it when I discover other people also love quirky humor. I love the Waiting for Satan blog at http://waitingforsatan.wordpress.com , and I love that the blog has many followers. I have no idea who writes this blog. He (? he uses cartoons that depict himself as a he—I think) was or is a student. His family...

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Quit That

In an effort to identify an agent who might be interested in an urban fantasy novel I’ve written that features Mother Mary and Jesus, I subscribe to a daily email service from PublishersMarketplace. The email lists the deals of the day: sales of Fiction, Nonfiction, Mystery/Crime, Sci-fi/Fantasy, etc. The sales are described in one sentence....

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