Category Archives: WTF

Voices

Posted on April 25, 2013 by

I stopped typing and froze in the bed office. A voice was in my house. Deep. Half whisper-in-a-frightening-tomb, half ogre-stuck-in-a-well. I set aside the laptop, rose from the bed office chair and peeked into the hall. No one. Except the … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Children's Books, Fiction, Poetry, Writer's Angst, Writing, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Update 2: NaMeSitDif (etc.) Projekt

Posted on April 10, 2013 by

Since I forgot to Na on Monday, as I promised myself, and since I didn’t Na on Tuesday due to pressing engagements (Target, the teeth people), upon leaving the stables today I stopped at a No’ridge Starbucks on my way home, hobbling delicately inside, … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Children's Books, Fiction, Poetry, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

NaMeSiDifStarDaiWri%#*Po Week (Partial Week Edition)

Posted on April 3, 2013 by

Next week (because my son resumes PreK after a 2 week spring break) is National PB Sit in a Different Starbucks Daily and Write a (insert expletive) Poem Week. Well, at least monday through thursday. Actually not tuesday because that’s when I … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, books, Children's Books, Fiction, Poetry, Writer's Angst, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Courage! (Neigh Edition)

Posted on March 19, 2013 by

I was late to retrieve the boy from school because I Face Sucked like a fiend AND watched the latest episode of “Once” on hulu AND in another open hulu tab caught up on the latest episode of “Revenge” WHILE checking … Continue reading →

Posted in Adult writing, Avoiding My Writing, books, Children's Books, Fiction, middle grade, Pets, Steps In Promotion, Writer's Angst, Writing Progress, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

To All Rejections

Posted on March 14, 2013 by

To all rejections: I am building a cathedral. I am building a cathedral. I am building a cathedral. I am building a cathedral. I am building a cathedral. I am building a cathedral. I am building a cathedral. I am … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Children's Books, Fiction, middle grade, Poetry, Quotes, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress, Writing Publications, Writing Tips, WTF, YA Novels | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

And The Seat Moved

Posted on January 22, 2013 by

My sliced finger salved and bandaged, wiping cat gak off my bare foot, it was about then I remembered my promise to learn to ride the unicycle before my next birthday, so I went outside, snatched up my son’s helmet … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, dog, Fiction, Pets, Poetry, To Explain, Writing, Writing Progress, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Mother Nature Wins

Posted on December 19, 2012 by

Around here, the skies are flannel and pursed. We can wear sweaters and scarves, for once, as we bring in our trash barrels from alleys. Pulling in the second recycling barrel, enjoying the feel of my silly polka-dot rain boots I … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Fiction, Me and Us, Writing, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Quote For The Weekend: Squirrel Edition Via Eliot

Posted on December 9, 2012 by

If we had a keen vision of all that is ordinary in human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow or the squirrel’s heartbeat, and we should die of that roar, which is the other side of silence. … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Fiction, Me and Us, Writer quotes, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Notes From Around Town

Posted on October 4, 2012 by

As I idled at a red light, MacArthur Park and Alvarado, a spry, elderly woman entered the crosswalk, head down, waving her arms. She wore a crossing guard’s vest, jeans, running shoes. After she passed my car (of course she … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Fiction, Writing, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

What Beauty Gets You

Posted on August 28, 2012 by

I returned from Big Sur with a line in my head that needed to be inserted into a poem I’m working on. I am lucky the line didn’t leave me, creative synapses firing long and repeatedly enough for me to … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, ocean related, Poetry, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Snow White Revisted (Part II)

Posted on August 15, 2012 by

I drove up to Santa Barbara by myself, for a change. High school reunion—the first I’ve ever been to, but not the first my friends have been to and it’s only because of Tdoll and Ddazzle and our nearly life-long … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Faction, Fiction, Santa Barbara, Writing, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

All Heated Up (With Spiders)

Posted on August 9, 2012 by

We are experiencing triple digit weather. Triple digits means hatchings and unwelcome visitors indoors. Cloth-eating moths. Black widows. Giant waterbugs, which I call cockroaches, which my husband insists are waterbugs—regardless, they make the cats crazy in the middle of the night and startle … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Children's Books, Fiction, Me and Us, Writing, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Quote For The Weekend (Gore Vidal Edition)

Posted on August 5, 2012 by

You can’t really succeed with a novel anyway; they’re too big. It’s like city planning. You can’t plan a perfect city because there’s too much going on that you can’t take into account. You can, however, write a perfect sentence … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Writer quotes, Writing, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Anteater Elegance

Posted on July 30, 2012 by

At the Santa Barbara Zoo, a fellow mother and I gazed at the anteater flicking its tongue at grass and slowly waving its unbrushed, showhorse-arched tail. Behind us, our 4 ½ year old boys practiced “Ninja” moves and tested their … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Santa Barbara, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Quote For The Weekend (Solstice Parade Edition)

Posted on June 24, 2012 by

I love a parade… —Anonymous, Arden & Ohman and pretty much everyone who has ever stood on a curb with family and friends and cheered for utter fabulousness. Also: overheard all over town June 23, 2012, Santa Barbara.

Posted in Children's Books, Fiction, Quotes, Writer quotes, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Quote For The Weekend (Feverish Edition)

Posted on April 29, 2012 by

There is one consolation in being sick; and that is the possibility that you may recover to a better state than you were ever in before. —Henry David Thoreau In the cocoon with a flashlight. Outside of it all, I hear … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotes, Writer quotes, Writer's Angst, Writing Progress, WTF | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Get Thee To Rivendale

Posted on April 27, 2012 by

Whenever I feel the slightest hint of a scratchy throat, whenever I’m knocking back the EmergenC or playing The Ladybug Game for the 5th time with a box of tissues in my lap, whenever I’m carrying on despite what I know … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Fiction, Writer's Angst, Writing, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Not A Zombie

Posted on April 11, 2012 by

1. Recently I slouched on a bale of hay, waiting for my son to appear at the bottom of a tube slide attached to a combine machine turned playset. A boy of about 10 popped out of the slide first, … Continue reading →

Posted in dog, Fiction, Pets, Writer's Angst, Writing, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Blog Break: Yes, Kony 2012

Posted on March 7, 2012 by

Click here for the movie. Scroll 1/2 way down their page. Watch. If you haven’t seen the film yet, it’s 27 minutes short and after the first 5 minutes you don’t care how long it is. If, like me, you … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, dog, Fiction, Me and Us, Writer's Angst, Writing Progress, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Quote For The Weekend (Superbowl Edition)

Posted on February 3, 2012 by

1. In modern war…you will die like a dog for no good reason. 2. Man is not made for defeat. —Ernest Hemingway I regret not going into Hemingway’s house when I was in Key West. Instead I stood out on … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Quotes, Writer quotes, Writer's Angst, Writing, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Oak Ents

Posted on January 26, 2012 by

This was the morning: camellias and oak trees. And koi ponds, a small, very green lake with coots and mallards drifting, a Japanese garden with an unattended snack bar my son immediately took over, stepping behind the counter (which came … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing, WTF | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Time Spent

Posted on January 9, 2012 by

Roaming the house looking for my reading glasses when on top of head entire time: a good 15 minutes (additional minutes tacked on when distracted by each room’s white elephant: mound of clean yet hopelessly wrinkled laundry on guest room bed, … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Children's Books, Fiction, middle grade, Pets, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Quote For The Weekend (Pre-Holiday Edition)

Posted on December 17, 2011 by

“One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don’t clean it up too quickly.” – Andy Rooney I am going to remember this quote on Christmas morning, refuse … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotes, WTF | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Supernova (Boom, Crash)

Posted on November 21, 2011 by

When I’m tired, it shows. I don’t have bags under my eyes resembling Hugh Hefner’s ball sack (thank you, Crazy Stupid Love for that line, crud from a movie so crazy sexist it was: Stupid), but I miss things, like windows … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Writer's Angst, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Wet Beach

Posted on October 25, 2011 by

Pashmina fog. You can’t really write that, but–”smoky” is cliché, the cat feet brilliance is spoken for and I have a gray pashmina I never wear that is the hue and untouchable texture of  last Saturday morning’s fog. You cannot write … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, ocean related, Writer's Angst, Writing, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments