Gather 'round…
Man, is it hard to kill the darlings! I've been dancing around it for days, trying to figure out how I can work a scene into my novel. At some point I wrote it, obviously thinking it had a home. I don't know what happened since then, but, at this point, it truly is a gypsy,... Continue Reading →
Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman My rating: 5 of 5 stars Ugh. 4 stars? 5 stars? I just couldn't decide. I went with 5 because my only reason for leaning 4 was comfort. This was not really my kind of book, so it took me a while to get into. Possibly my own roller-coaster of... Continue Reading →
I meant to publish a 'year in the life' when I hit a full year of blogging. But it came and went with little pomp, or even thought. Somehow a 'thirteen months in the life' doesn't carry the excitement, so I just let it go. But one hundred posts seems like something to celebrate, too!... Continue Reading →
Butt in chair, fingers tickling keyboard. That's the prescription, right? It is fairly imperative, if you desire to be a writer, to write, but I read an article recently that made me question the mantra and its power in my life. Since my own writing has been hovering somewhere between squeamish and nonexistent, I though... Continue Reading →
It's here. NaNoWriMo starts Sunday. Yikes. Last year I didn't participate, because I was completely engulfed in revisions on my novel, and refused to be bothered. This year I was tempted to do the same, but since the novel has been on a hiatus for the past couple of months, I thought I'd use NaNo... Continue Reading →
Someone recently told me that balance doesn't exist. Balance. As in the thing we're all striving for in our lives. Doesn't exist. I wasn't sure exactly how I felt about it at the time. I wasn't affronted, which might have been a natural reaction given the collection of hours I've amassed in the pursuit of... Continue Reading →
We've camped cold before. It is one of our favorite ways to camp, actually, especially along Lake Superior where the cold can be as pristine as the waters of the mighty lake. We're no strangers to sleeping beneath seven layers, with winter hats protecting the only possible exposure. We kind of like getting up and... Continue Reading →
"Do not let your intellect be disturbed by mere names, for Paradise has simply clothed itself in terms akin to you" (Hymns on Paradise, 11), admonished St. Ephrem the Syrian. Paradise is in this world. It is inside of every earthman and earthwoman and all around them, waiting to be reclaimed. ~ Vigen Guroian, The Fragrance of God... Continue Reading →
Wordsmithy: Hot Tips for the Writing Life by Douglas Wilson My rating: 5 of 5 stars You know it's a good one when you abstain from reading just to make it last longer. I'm not saying that Wordsmithy was one of those intense keep-you-up-at-night page-turners, or that I had to exercise any superhuman feats of... Continue Reading →
I judge. It is what I do. I am a people watcher from the word go, and for me it is not generally an exercise in edification, mine nor those so tormented to be found beneath my gaze. I do work very hard to stand in the way of my own comfort at the bench,... Continue Reading →
I've been blogging a little bit about the Learning How to Learn MOOC I've been participating in. I finished it up, after taking quite a bit of time off to accommodate a relentless summer, and I thought I'd go back through those learning techniques I rambled on about. A progress report of sorts. Some of... Continue Reading →
Wise man once say: Every decision, if it is made in love, is the right decision, even if it is the wrong decision. ~ Aforementioned Wise Man Hmmm... May all your words and actions be laid out in love, KJ
Tales From the Nexus 