“Beginnings are times of grandiose dreams of escape, success, change, and possibilities. This is true not only for the protagonist of your story, but also for you.” –Martha Alderson, The Plot Whisperer (25) Maybe you’ve heard this before, as I seem to see it everywhere lately: The first step to getting out of prison is to know […]
Because the other half of my very small novel-writing group has The Plot Whisperer by Martha Alderson on her desk, I decided to dig out my copy. Years ago when I was at sea on my draft of my novel about the further adventures of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Pearl Prynne, I read and reread The Plot Whisperer–it’s […]
My good friend Francine sent me this blessing. May it bless you, too. Beannacht / Blessing John O’Donohue For Josie, my mother On the day when the weight deadens on your shoulders and you stumble, may the clay dance to balance you. And when your eyes freeze behind the grey window and the ghost of […]
I won’t even try to eulogize the fabulous Mary Oliver — too many people have already done it for us. But here, just in case you missed it, is NPR’s tribute, and the poem that adorned my office door back in my teaching days: Wild Geese You do not have to be good. You do […]