Tag Archives: fiction

REVISION

Posted on July 28, 2018 by

I finished my novel. All the writing, beach walks, and kitten-breaks seem to have paid off. I’m finished. Let the revising begin. Actually I’ve been revising all along. I adopted a habit of backing up a few chapters, reading/revising them … Continue reading →

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The New Now

Posted on July 12, 2017 by

I closed my laptop and asked my waitress, Lila, why she was clearly having a rough day. She started talking to me about her mom. I almost dropped my glass of lemonade. Lila’s mom rivals mine and I didn’t think … Continue reading →

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Coffee Kick & Go (Tremble Edition)

Posted on April 12, 2017 by

It may be poetry month in the USA, but here at PB Writes the author was up late revising her MG novel, prepping it for the agent requesting a read. This sweet, cool and sunny spring morning–after creating pancakes-secreted-with-carrot-puree for the boy, feeding … Continue reading →

Posted in Children's Books, Fiction, Pets, Poetry, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

O Summer!

Posted on August 5, 2016 by

I’ve been quiet since May, after a brief, powerful writer’s retreat. I’ve been busy this summer with what the retreat inspired: Writing. Revising. Writing. Revising a new short story, one screaming for edits of late. It’s almost ready for submission. Compiling … Continue reading →

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Step Away From All Chariots (Burning Edition)

Posted on December 2, 2014 by

CONTENT WARNING: Vague to extreme silliness–and back again. Since 1990 I’ve been visiting Ana S. every other month, less when I was younger and single and living on a leaky  sailboat and a semi-working actress with miracle hair never listing towards … Continue reading →

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The Women’s National Book Association

Posted on March 1, 2014 by

I was made aware of the WNBA/LA thanks to my middle grade writing mentor, Kathryn Fitzmaurice (ask me if I am lucky to have her as my mentor and you will hear amplified hell yeah’s). She gave one of this … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Children's Books, Faction, Fiction, middle grade, Writing, Writing Progress, Writing Tips | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Walking to Floats (SoCal Edition)

Posted on January 3, 2014 by

Rose Parade Floats Viewing, January 2nd: I walked my son several blocks down a typically—for Pasadena—vast and nicely swept boulevard to another major boulevard (wider than the Rio Grande and as sungleamy in our December heatwave) mobbed by people like us … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, books, Children's Books, Faction, Fiction, Writing, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

December Whinny

Posted on December 18, 2013 by

Sitting on the patio at Peddler’s Fork, alone out here as it’s a SoCal pre-Christmas bit of chilly, i.e., 60 degrees, way too cold for the cycling clan packing the tables indoors, brrr, but perfect for me as I’m the … Continue reading →

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Quote For The Weekend (RIP Edition)

Posted on August 8, 2013 by

I have learned that particularly clever ideas do not always stand up under close scrutiny. Elizabeth Peters, The Hippopotamus Pool Ah, but the above author’s ideas stood up and have never stood down. Armed in 2 pen names (Elizabeth Peters being my personal … Continue reading →

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Quote For The Weekend: Early Edition (Due To Colds, Flu, Pediatric Dental ER’s, Close-Family Close Calls, Going Away For The Weekend & A Unicycle That Still Needs Mastering…)

Posted on February 14, 2013 by

Try, fail. Try again, fail better. —Samuel Beckett In Sunday’s typically heat-knit twilight, I glance up from pinching pie crust into old-fashioned, part curtains patterned in fat cherries. A palomino trots down my street, its rider guiding with the blithe … Continue reading →

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Quote For The Weekend

Posted on January 19, 2013 by

In order to write the book you want to write, in the end you have to become the person you need to become to write that book. ― Junot Díaz Today I am a 56 year old academic who wrote only … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

And There Is A Storm And Here Is A Cat

Posted on October 29, 2012 by

Locust After the midnight bell, the battered book closed, flame of the inherited candle snuffed, we recover from stifling night, erasing radical dream-dyes we will never share (though not because we are secretive) and we remember I’ve just returned from … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Poetry | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 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

Links Time

Posted on August 2, 2012 by

It’s been a week of discovering useful blog links. I’ve hopped from link to link and then some, pausing only to drop the boy off at summer camp, pick him up, play Batman & Dinosaurs, fix dinner, twist myself into … Continue reading →

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Quote For The Weekend (Yet Another “Revision” Edition)

Posted on July 29, 2012 by

I work hard, I work very hard. All the books at leat 30 revisions. —Ha Jin In working on a poem, I love to revise. Lots of younger poets don’t enjoy this, but in the process of revision I discover … Continue reading →

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Deep Summer Checkpoint

Posted on July 25, 2012 by

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 →

Posted in Children's Books, Fiction, middle grade, Poetry, Writer quotes, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Deadwhat?

Posted on July 16, 2012 by

Deadlines, deadlines, self-imposed deadlines. Sometimes, while the boy attends summer camp,  I sit in a small boat in the silly above ground swimming pool and deadline-away. Floating, bumping into pool sides and ladder and capsized toy boats titillates the creative side of … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Club, books, Children's Books, Fiction, ocean related, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Author Interview #1: Bridget Hoida And SO LA

Posted on June 18, 2012 by

Introducing Bridget Hoida, whose first novel, So LA, is due out in bookstores June 20th. I happen to personally know that Bridget is brilliant, but I can also tell you without a hint of bias that she writes about Los Angeles with … Continue reading →

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Wrinkly Time, Melamine

Posted on June 8, 2012 by

I recently discovered that anything made of melamine, i.e., my preschooler’s plates and bowls, should not be tossed into the dishwasher. Ever. And if you make a knife cut in melamine? Chances are toxins will seep into your child’s food. … Continue reading →

Posted in Adult writing, books, Children's Books, Fiction, Madonna, Writing, Writing Progress | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Short Story Writing Drama

Posted on May 30, 2012 by

Because I’ve been a Glimmer Train Finalist several times and, once, long ago, when GT published poetry, a Top 25 Finalist, and because, of course, GT is one of the best fiction journals in the country, I subscribe and receive … Continue reading →

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

Quote For The Weekend (Super Late Richard Henry Dana, Jr. Edition)

Posted on May 28, 2012 by

“The Californians are an idle, thriftless people, and can make nothing for themselves. The country abounds in grapes, yet they buy, at a great price, bad wine made in Boston…”  ―Richard Henry Dana, Jr. Well, Sir—we’ve come a long way. … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Quotes, Writer quotes, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Critique Etiquette

Posted on March 2, 2012 by

  The ever-interesting Beth Hull offers some valuable critiquing advice at her blog today. I highly recommend you check in–especially if, like me, you are gearing up for the Rocklin Spring Spirit conference, where critiquing will be in the air, … Continue reading →

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Quote For The Weekend (Christmas Edition)

Posted on December 24, 2011 by

The best sitting room at Manor Farm was a good, long, dark-panelled room with a high chimney-piece, and a capacious chimney, up which you could have driven one of the new patent cabs, wheels and all. At the upper end … Continue reading →

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Quote For The Weekend (Late Edition As was Ocean-Distracted–Luckily It’s Never Too Late For Quotes)

Posted on October 23, 2011 by

“One of my favourite places to read was my elder brother’s bedroom. It was a tiny room with a bed, a chest-of-drawers, bookcases full of books, and shelves where he kept his seashells, butterflies, pressed wild flowers and microscope, because … Continue reading →

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