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PB Rides The Unicycle!
UPDATE from Feb., 2013: 3 years later, the unicycle leans against a distant patio corner. When I remember (usually when watering the fern near tarnishing silver spokes), I tell it I will return. And I will. But not today. July 2017: Not sure where unicycle is...July 12th, 2017-
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Tag Archives: domestic bliss
Sugar Cookies (‘Is Mars in Retrograde’ Edition)
My son and his dad have a game in which my son pumps his legs hard and gets one of the swings on our creaky set to as high as he can without giving me a heart attack, and my … Continue reading
Posted in books, Faction, Writing
Tagged 2015, Dogs, domestic bliss, fiction writing, gunshots, kids, Los Angeles, memoir on acid, personal goals, poetry, suburbia, writer's angst
5 Comments
Screens
Staring at my writing, I heard what I thought was our younger cat pulverizing the bedroom window’s screen, as he does when he’d like to be let inside, despite the little Hobbiton upside-down-U’s we had cut in pertinent doors, just for … Continue reading
Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Children's Books, dog, Faction, Writing, WTF
Tagged children's literature, dog, domestic bliss, fiction writing, hobbits, life, Los Angeles, middle grade writing, personal goals, poetry, writer's block, writing
2 Comments
Mornings Become Them (Birds Edition)
615am–I get out of bed to let the dog outside and get back in bed forgetting to let the dog back in and he barks and I shoot out of bed not wanting the dog to wake the first grader … Continue reading
Posted in Adult writing, Avoiding My Writing, books, Children's Books, dog, Faction, Fiction, middle grade, Parakeet, Pets, Poetry, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress, WTF
Tagged 2014, cats, children's literature, Conures, dog, domestic bliss, fiction writing, First Graders, Freelance Writing, life, Los Angeles, poetry, writer's angst, writing
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Spring Break Snoozing (Wide Awake Edition)
During this luscious week of no school for the Kindergartner, we snooze well. Except when we are awakened from chasm-sleep somewhere between 2a.m. and maybe 4:30a.m.—after the bars have closed, but before the rooster across the alley busts its lungs—after we’ve … Continue reading
Posted in Adult writing, Avoiding My Writing, books, Children's Books, dog, Faction, Fiction, Me and Us, middle grade, Pets, Poetry, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress, WTF
Tagged 2014, cats, children's literature, dog, domestic bliss, fiction writing, Kindergarten, Kindle Fire, labrador, life, Los Angeles, middle grade writing, personal goals, poetry, writing
1 Comment
Bathroom Reading (Scouring Edition)
While holiday cleansing the bathroom, on my knees scrubbing corners usually in my blind spot, I glance up and notice books also, apparently, usually in my blind spot. I have no idea when Dylan Thomas arrived. Definitely wasn’t me who … Continue reading
Posted in books, Children's Books, dog, middle grade, Poetry, Writer's Angst, Writing
Tagged 2013, children's literature, domestic bliss, Dylan Thomas, fiction writing, Freshly Pressed, Henry James, Kindergarten, life, Los Angeles, middle grade writing, Nicole Kidman, personal goals, poetry, Portrait of a Lady, Reader, Sherman Oaks, The Turn of the Screw, writing
2 Comments
The Truth Is…(Maintenance Edition)
The truth is, I’m way too busy to blog—sprawling on the couch eating bonbons takes up a lot of time. And let me make this extremely clear: NOT milk chocolate bonbons with cherries tucked inside them. If I was even … Continue reading
Posted in Children's Books, Fiction, middle grade, Pets, Poetry, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress
Tagged 2013, cats, children's literature, chocolate, chocolate bon bons, dog, domestic bliss, fiction writing, life, Los Angeles, memories, middle grade writing, Reader, writer's angst, writing
8 Comments
Quote For The Week: Diana Nyad (Butterscotch Cookies Edition)
Find a way. —Diana Nyad I briefly interrupt evening reading time to announce I’m zooming to Albertson’s for eggs for tomorrow’s scrambled egg jamboree and ask my spouse if he needs anything from the store. In the Daffy Duck brogue he utilizes when … Continue reading
Mini-Break 4: Summer Flu (Mr. Darcy Would Not Approve)
I see from Facebook that those of us women afflicted turned to the BBC’s 1995 Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. No coincidence. Those empire-waist dresses (so cheerful) and perpetually bouncing ringlets, lush countryside and obvious magnetism help … Continue reading
Posted in books, Children's Books, Fiction, Poetry, Writer's Angst, Writing
Tagged 2013, Bath, cats, children's literature, dog, domestic bliss, fiction writing, Jane Austen, Jane Austen Society, Kindle Fire, Los Angeles, ocean, poetry, Pride and Prejudice, writing
2 Comments
And The Seat Moved
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 2013, cats, dog, domestic bliss, fiction writing, labrador, personal goals, poetry, preschoolers, unicycle, writing
4 Comments
Space Aliens Blow Up Fast Food Joints
Or: Writing In Increments (daylight edition) Between the post-workout shower and the trip to Redbox to return movies you suddenly noticed on the bookshelf as you craned your neck to see if your leg was straight as it pulsed to … Continue reading
Posted in Avoiding My Writing, dog, Fiction, To Explain, Writing, Writing Progress
Tagged 2012, aliens, cooking, dolphins, domestic bliss, fast food, fiction writing, karate, labrador, McDonald's, middle grade writing, organic, preschoolers, Starbucks, writing
2 Comments
Coasting From One Weekend Quote To The Next
Maybe I’m a writer because I’m desperately trying to clean up my mess. Other people go into therapy or become psychiatrists just to clean up the mess. Well, I couldn’t afford therapy at the time I needed it the most, … Continue reading
Posted in books, Children's Books, Fiction, Me and Us, To Explain, Writer quotes, Writing, Writing Progress
Tagged 2012, Batcave, cooking, domestic bliss, fiction writing, Isabelle Allende, middle grade writing, Naomi Epel, personal goals, preschoolers, quotes on writing, Wild Krats, writing
3 Comments
Deep Summer Checkpoint
Two summers ago I wrote: I create escape beneath my yard’s wind- bent gazebo, books on spread gingham, the shrunk house I dragged into our shade, ticking stove, stranger’s voice in the toy wall phone he refuses. Create with a … Continue reading
Phases (Moon)
As I drove myself and the dog home from dropping the boy off at summer day camp (where they create 4th of July art, squirt water at each other, learn how to play Red Rover and build Lego creations all … Continue reading
Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Fiction, Pets, Writing Progress
Tagged 2012, cats, chaos, dog, domestic bliss, Full moons, preschoolers, summer camp, writer's angst, writing, yoga
2 Comments
What I Can Do To Promote World Peace
548a.m. Pretty dark through the curtains. No birdsong. The bed is mine, S walking the dog, the boy snoozing anywhere from the next 15 minutes to the next hour. Barely awake, I feel the effects from gazing at my work … Continue reading
Posted in books, dog, Me and Us, Quotes, Writing
Tagged 2012, cats, chaos, domestic bliss, Facebook, fiction writing, Mother Teresa, preschoolers, quotes on writing, Sandra Fluke
1 Comment
No Sickness (O My Stars)
I remember using the mini food processor chopper thing to within an inch of its life, opening cans of Christmas delicacies like organic kidney beans, tomato paste (yes, organic tomato paste—who knew) and what is Christmas without ye olde Christmas mandarin … Continue reading
Notes From The Armchair
And how is it going, PB, in your newly rediscovered armchair? Are you working under favorable conditions? Or does the scent of cat pee distract you, just as you’ve made yourself comfortable, laptop on lap, glass of wine on the bookshelf next … Continue reading
Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Fiction, Me and Us, Pets, Steps In Promotion, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing, WTF
Tagged 2011, cats, creamsicles, domestic bliss, domestics, fiction writing, life, personal goals, writer's angst
2 Comments
Armchair Magic (With Tall Reading Lamp)
Last night I accomplished so much in my new special writing place that all day I anticipated my return. Now that I’m here, typing eagerly, feet crossed and slightly off an ottoman, my spine cushioned far more comfortably than when I’m up against … Continue reading
Posted in dog, Me and Us, middle grade, To Explain, Writing, Writing Progress
Tagged 2011, cats, dog, domestic bliss, fiction writing, Marcel Proust, middle grade writing, T-Rex, writing
1 Comment
Rocking Muses
YA Muses are having another contest/giveaway and all week have reposted tons of valuable writing advice. Their story is inspirational–seriously, check them out, especially today’s post. Really wish I was going to SCBWI-LA this year so I could meet them … Continue reading
Posted in Fiction, To Explain, Writing
Tagged 2011, chaos, domestic bliss, life, SCBWI, toddlers, writing
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When I Write
I might wake up many times during any night due to: Nightmares involving fedora-wearing aliens intent on making off with my son. The certainty that I have heard a loud noise, which means rising from bed and checking my son’s room and the rest … Continue reading
Posted in Adult writing, Avoiding My Writing, books, dog, Faction, Fiction, Me and Us, middle grade, Poetry, Steps In Promotion, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress, WTF
Tagged 2011, cats, chaos, children's literature, dog, domestic bliss, domestics, fiction, fiction writing, labrador, life, middle grade writing, personal goals, poetry, toddlers, writer, writer's angst, writer's block, writing
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Piddlings
I printed out a “finished” poem and left it on the chair next to my bed desk. I left the room. When I returned, I discovered that fearless, scratches-inflicting, wild, out of control, great white shark-mouthed and terminally cute Diggory-The-Kitten had … Continue reading
Posted in Avoiding My Writing, dog, Me and Us, Parakeet, Poetry, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing Progress, WTF
Tagged 2011, cats, chaos, dog, domestic bliss, domestics, labrador, poetry, toddlers, writer, writing
1 Comment
New Muse
A kitten after my own heart. We have a new muse around here since Mother’s Day. He was this writer’s huge, completely unexpected, big-deal surprise. I’d forgotten how much joy kittens bring, endless chuckles for both adults and a little boy excited to … Continue reading
Posted in Avoiding My Writing, books, Me and Us, To Explain, Writing Progress
Tagged cats, domestic bliss, fiction writing, kitten, life, toddlers, writer, writing
1 Comment
There’s No Place Like Hush
It’s April. I’m quiet. I’m revising. Being a vigilant mother. Cooking for house guests (i.e. Costco-ing for house guests). Hulu-ing Parenthood (help me, Obi Wan—it’s my only vice). Typing in my quips on Facebook (help me, O.W.—it’s my only other … Continue reading
Posted in Adult writing, Avoiding My Writing, dog, Fiction, Me and Us, middle grade, Parakeet, Steps In Promotion, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress, WTF
Tagged aliens, children's literature, dog, domestic bliss, domestics, dreams, Facebook, fiction, fiction writing, life, middle grade writing, nightmares, toddlers, writer, writing
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Welcome Vibrations
A striking thing happened this morning after dropping my son off at his preschool. I returned home, did not check email, vacuum up dog hair, make a Trader Joe’s list, stare intently at Yahoo news while groaning at the spelling … Continue reading
Posted in Adult writing, dog, Fiction, Me and Us, middle grade, Parakeet, Steps In Promotion, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress, WTF
Tagged children's literature, dog, domestic bliss, domestics, fiction writing, life, middle grade writing, personal goals, preschooler, toddlers, Trader Joe's, writer, writing
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