I’m delighted to have been interviewed by the lovely and prolific fellow author and editor Christina Boyd of The Quill Ink, a wonderful site whose blog is packed with advice and insights for authors, and much more.
Enjoy!
If only Chat GPT were that simple to dismiss. But resist? That you can do.
Authors, filmmakers, musicians, visual artists, and other creatives are panicking about the appropriation of their work and the possibility of being replaced, rendered obsolete.
Perhaps my favorite commentary on Chat GPT is this brief, bruising one from Nick Cave’s Red Hand Files.
This one on Lit Hub, however, gives me hope.
Kind of gives new meaning to HAL’s classic line.
I’m thrilled to be returning to Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena, CA to teach two writing workshops. There’s still space available.
One-Day Writing Workshop: Novel vs. Screenplay: Exploring Your Options. Saturday, May 25th, 1:30-4:30 PM.
Six-Week Writing Workshop: Storytelling Techniques. Six Thursdays, starting May 30th and skipping 4th of July, 6:30-8:30 PM. For authors of fiction and narrative nonfiction.
Both classes are open to participants at all levels. There will be lectures and writing exercises.
This is a safe space where your writing will be supported with constructive suggestions and where you can receive instructor feedback in class or via email.
For complete descriptions of each workshop, plus registration information, got to the Vroman’s Ed page. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me.
On Twitter, someone asked for book recommendations for Austen fans, and what came to mind was not a continuation, a sequel, or an inspired-by. It was JULIET, NAKED by Nick Hornby.
Nick Hornby is my idea of a contemporary Jane Austen. So is Zadie Smith, particularly her novel ON BEAUTY. Both authors make profound observations of human nature, give us romance without sentimentality, have a divine sense of humor, and are simply master storytellers. In my writing workshops I inevitably read passages from both Hornby and Smith. 
For me, Hornby’s JULIET, NAKED brought to mind some of the online discussions that occur amongst Austen’s most devoted readers. A central premise of the book is that no matter how much the admirers of an artist’s work examine that work, study it, parse it for meaning, and become “experts,” they can never acquire irrefutable proof that the creator felt a certain way or had a particular type of experience at the time she created it. Bottom line is that it’s nothing more than speculation. And speculation is often wrong. (more…)
Everyone who knows me knows how much I love essential oils. Just got these early dharmaceuticals essential oil gifts for the holidays and couldn’t help but open them and start spritzing and diffusing. Love it! 
The Lift-Me-Up spritz put me in the perfect frame of mind to get going on today’s writing….ttyl :))
If any of my fellow storytellers deal with writer’s block from time to time, here’s some fun help. Fun help? That’s right. See you in the playground.
Photo by Marion Michele on Unsplash
Photo by Sneha Chekuri on Unsplash
I could write a book on all the uses I have for essential oils, and writing is a big one. Productivity, creativity, flow, and focus are just a few of the things I need in my writing life, and I have essential oil blends to help me with all of them.
by Startup Stock Photos
Have you ever tried to write a scene or a post or a proposal and can’t figure which angle to approach it from, or you can’t find the right words or the right tone?
Have you ever wanted to email or text or talk about something—especially if it’s a difficult subject—and you can’t seem to get it out? Or you’re afraid you’ve said too much?
Have you ever felt that way in a social situation—worried that you don’t know how to make small talk or you’re coming off too reserved or you’ve revealed more to a total stranger than you should have done?
My answer would be yes, yes, and yes. (more…)
Are you a writer, too? If so, you may find my posts on the writing life helpful.
Have you ever thought about finding an editor to help you through the process? I can relate. I wouldn’t be where I am without the guidance and encouragement of my own editor/writing coach.
(more…)
I loved every page of this book, which I listened to on audiobook. Stephen King generously (those darn adverbs!) shares his insights about and faith in the magic of storytelling, the nuts and bolts of the writer’s toolbox, his own creative process, and the life events that shaped the writer he is today. He does all of this with the combination of compassion, encouragement, and straight dealing from the b.s.-free zone that I adore about this master wordsmith. A thoroughly enjoyable and illuminating read, with excellent narration by the author himself
I’ve always been a voracious reader. I read for pleasure, relaxation, inspiration, and insights. I’ve also discovered that for those of us who are writers, there’s a bonus feature baked into every great book: a master class on writing.
I enjoy exploring an author’s sensory descriptions, seamless transitions, witty dialogue, deft handling of POV, and judicious sprinklings of humor. I’m fascinated by the sleight of hand that plants foreshadowings and the skillful ways in which the writer made me lose sleep for turning pages late into the night. And, perhaps most important, I am always in awe of the keen eye that shines a light on the manifold facets of human nature.
Jane Austen is one of those authors with an unflinching eye for human nature at its best and its worst. So are Nick Hornby, Zadie Smith, J.K. Rowling, and Aurelia Haslboeck, whose debut novel, The Journeys of John and Julia: Genesis, exemplifies why I return to the works of these authors again and again. I re-read them for pleasure, inspiration, and to marvel at the sheer brilliance of their writing.
Recently, within the space of two weeks, I devoured the first three books in J.K. Rowling’s Cormoran Strike detective series, which she writes under the pen name Robert Galbraith. Here’s a brief clip of Rowling talking about the creation of her series:
