Woke up this morning to temps in the 40's! By the time I had the wherewithal to take note, it was slightly warmer, but fall-like. Lovely to have that big down comforter on top of me. Great headway today on Chapter 6. It's all about when I got into 12-step recovery...
What the what?! I could not be further removed from traffic, honking and crowds in my little cabin off this dirt road in Vermont. So why did I need to put on my noise-cancelling headphones at 10am this morning? Walking up the driveway to my car, I saw the offending...
One of the ways I edit my writing is to print it out, read it aloud into my phone's recording device, then listen back to my words to hear how they sound. I can catch repeats, oversights and inconsistencies that way. I also notice if the words flow and if what I'm...
The fact that I'm just now posting at 8:21pm tells you something about how productive I was today. I wrote for at least five hours, though I don't have a lot to show for it--maybe 3 more pages total. I'm revising Chapter 5, which is a particularly painful one to...
After a super-busy two weeks in early July: my boyfriend's performance in Gypsy at the Sharon Playhouse (delightful!), my birthday (big event), my granddaughter's 5th birthday (dwarfed mine), my sister's 70th (oh, my!), plus my client appreciation celebration (post...
I was privileged to attend the New York City Publishing & Creativity conference for writers all day today in lower Manhattan. Moderated by Joel Fotinos, there were published authors who spoke about their experiences and successes as well as panels of editors...
You'd think there was only so much you could say about that little word, but I'm finding that it's a real powerhouse and there is more to explore than I originally thought. To help me say 'no' more authentically, I've begun intentionally mapping out my days with...
After reading Carolyn See’s wonderful book, Making A Literary Life I not only began writing charming notes to icons in the world of publishing, but also blogged about developing the habit. One of my readers, Suzanne Ste. Therese who happens to be a client too, also...
Please! Share your best practices for saying no graciously. I've tried to be kind, but gotten radio silence in response. Here are two examples that left me feeling badly. One new acquaintance offered me a personality assessment after she heard me speak, you know,...
I had the privilege of hearing Judy Batalion speak to a classrooom of writers during a Sue Shapiro seminar last November. Judy is one of Sue's many success stories--published authors who return to inspire current students and to share that Sue's methods work. Judy...
When I saw a Facebook posting of this old letter, I read through to the end, based on my esteem for the person who'd posted it. My immediate reaction was, "I'm not buying." There was something about the too perfect coffee stain that made me suspicious. I typed...
My writing colleague Kathleen Frazier recently had her beautiful memoir Sleepwalker published by Skyhorse Publishing. She has been giving readings at many public events, but I chose the one at St. Mark's Bookshop a few weeks ago because Kathleen mentioned that I...
I follow the breadcrumbs in my life. I was feeling stuck last week after writing another chapter of my memoir. Now what? Where do I go from here? What's my theme? Will anybody care? Fortunately, I had had a conversation with a friend last Sunday who mentioned a...
In my final class at Gotham Writers Workshop this week, my very smart instructor Melissa Petro, gave us the rundown on getting published. Among the crowd in the room, we listed nearly 40 magazines we might pitch with our articles. Melissa reminded us, "Know your...
(Please forgive the small font. I cut and pasted it from my Evernote files and am unable to increase its size.) It’s a pouring rainy night in mid-Manhattan. I’m already worrying about getting a ride back to my upper west side apartment after the session at Gotham...
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