1,667 is a lot of words.

To get in the spirit of NaNoWriMo, I’m trying to blog on a regular basis. Meaning, um, like more than twice a month. And today, I tried writing 1,667 words of something, anything, just to see how I would feel about writing that much in a day. Every day. For a month.
I know I’ve written [...]

Lizard people are running the world ’n stuff

Ooh! It’s fall fiction week at Slate. Yum. And including the greatest works of fiction that contemporary novelists have never read.
Also, on the random and entertaining side: Need some fodder? How ’bout: lizard people are running the world?

Look: No hands! (On the computer.)

I tried not to use my computer all weekend — so difficult! I did not write. I did not surf. I did not email (much). Instead, I put all my creativity this weekend into cooking and drawing, both with mixed results.
You might ask why I couldn’t have written in a notebook, by hand. I [...]

Cool Ranch is a mood.

I went to a favorite local independent bookstore yesterday, and two weird things happened.
1. I left without buying anything. Highly unusual.
2. I freaked out about the plot I’ve chosen to write next month.
I went there in search of travel writing about Thailand – not
guidebooks, but essays or travel memoirs. My thinking was, hey, since
my novel [...]

karmic retribution

It’s because I chuckled at the image of NaNoWriMo-ans with icepacks on their wrists while reading No Plot? No Problem!
Yes, I am a believer in such karmic retribution. My wrist hurts. It feels like the tendinitis I had a while back in Boston has flared up again. (Also, um, why is there no “o” in [...]

I’ve decided.

I had been having trouble deciding what to write next month. Well, actually, that’s not true. I have several novel plots that I have been thinking about, except I didn’t really know I was thinking about them. I decided to write out a few plot summaries, and boom!, there they were.
It’s come down to two [...]

Enough.

I quit my job.
I’m returning to a freelance life. I would call this time spent as a full-time reporter a short-lived experiment, except that it was not really an experiment. It was my job, and I put my whole self into it, or tried, for more than four months. I have many, many conflicted emotions [...]

I’m getting ready.

I’m not usually one who’s much for books about writing. Particularly books about how to write.
But I’ve picked up this book, for NaNoWriMo. And I’m quite psyched about it.
There are, I will admit, writing books that I would recommend. Particularly for people just getting started. But only a few. This is not to say there [...]

Oh, man…

I signed up. Now there’s no escape!
And this is a good thing. You can find me here.

Well, hello there.

I’m sipping my coffee next to a vase full of sweet-smelling lilies. You know the ones that everyone warns about when they see them?
Person A: Oh, what beautiful lilies!
Person B: I got them for my birthday.
Person A: Oh, and they smell so nice, too.
Person B: Don’t they?
Person A: But watch out… that brown pollen…if you [...]