Tag Archives: fiction

Post Birthday Questionnaire

Posted on February 26, 2022 by PB Rippey

How old are you? Not old enough.What do you want? Greater physical/emotional strength. To write more than I am writing. To see more wild sea otters.What have you given your teenager that is worthwhile, or impressionable? Apologies when I’m wrong … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing | Tagged 2022, children's literature, fiction, fiction writing, hope, life, middle grade writing, Morro Bay, nature, personal goals, Pets, poetry, sea otters | 1 Comment

June Reading List

Posted on July 1, 2021 by PB Rippey

Revisiting favorite way-to-tell-a-story inspirations. Encouraged that my Novelist-Dames (like my Joni Mitchell and Ani DiFranco Songstress-Dames) stand the test of my personal decades. IMO, the tell vs. show offered by these novelists (contrary to contemporary insistence on show vs. tell) … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing | Tagged ani difranco, Dido Twite, Elizabeth Peters novels, fiction, fiction writing, Joan Aiken, Joni Mitchell, Mary Stewart novels, middle grade writing, Peabody and Emerson | Leave a comment

Learning In The Time Of Covid (Coursera Wesleyan U edition)

Posted on September 24, 2020 by PB Rippey

My book-recs arrive from: author-friends; writers I heart on social media; my 3 sisters/avid-readers; always Claire’s recs on WORD BY WORD. Thank you, Claire. You suggest so many writing worlds that shouldn’t, ever, be missed. In this basically word-of-mouth vein, … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing | Tagged 2020, Amity Gaige, Book recs, Coursera, DH Lawrence, fiction, Literature, Odour Of Chrysanthemums, Sea Wife, Wesleyan U, Word By Word book reviews, writing fiction | 1 Comment

Did I Or Didn’t I

Posted on April 23, 2020 by PB Rippey

UPDATE: Coupled with new findings this week in Santa Clara County, where the medical examiner confirmed that California had the earliest deaths from COVID-19 — on Feb. 6 and Feb. 17 — the new information suggests a national epidemic was … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Writing | Tagged #quarantinelife, 2020, books, Bosch, covid19, fiction, heatwave, Pandemic, Quarantine, writer's block | Leave a comment

Never Forget (Fav Coffee Mug Edition)

Posted on April 9, 2020 by PB Rippey

Yours in coping, PB

Posted in Writing | Tagged #stayhome, #staysafe, 2020, books, coffee, coping, covid19, faction, fiction, Inspiration, life, Self-quarantine, survival, writing | Leave a comment

Birthday Alarms

Posted on February 25, 2019 by PB Rippey

I was wide awake before Monday’s morning alarm chimed, plotting what errands I would accomplish, in what order– when my brain was hit with edits to my novel-in-progress. I threw back the covers and staggered for the dining room table, … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Children's Books, Faction, Fiction, Writing | Tagged 2019, 4, Action dolls, birthdays, cats, Dogs, domestics, faction, fiction, kids, novel writing, RGB, writing fiction | 3 Comments

Hunting

Posted on October 29, 2018 by PB Rippey

230am, the dog’s nose a wet Q-tip on my ear, his drunk-carny’s breath. I rise, stumble to the patio door, let him out. Waiting, I realize my right foot is wet. I panic: blood? Cat vomit. I stumble to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, books, Fiction, Writing | Tagged 2018, bad guys, books, cats, chocolate chip pancakes, coffee, Dogs, domestics, faction, Family, fiction, insomnia, Inspiration, life, Literature, Mary Louise Parker, poetry, Tarantino, Tom Selleck, writing, WTF | Leave a comment

REVISION

Posted on July 28, 2018 by PB Rippey

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 →

Posted in Children's Books, Writing | Tagged 2018, books, cats, children's literature, fiction, Inspiration, life, Literature, middle grade writing, revision, Thanks, unicorns, universe, Wow, writing | 3 Comments

The New Now

Posted on July 12, 2017 by PB Rippey

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 →

Posted in Faction, Me and Us, Writing | Tagged 2017, dyfunction, faction, Family, fiction, happiness, Health, life, therapy, writing | Leave a comment

Coffee Kick & Go (Tremble Edition)

Posted on April 12, 2017 by PB Rippey

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 2017, books, cats, coffee, Dogs, Family, fiction, life, Literature, Los Angeles, middle grade writing, muse, Pets, poetry, Poetry Month, revision, spring | 2 Comments

O Summer!

Posted on August 5, 2016 by PB Rippey

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 →

Posted in Writing | Tagged 2016, beach, fiction, Kauai, life, Los Angeles, middle grade writing, ocean, personal goals, poetry, writer, writer's angst, writing | 2 Comments

Step Away From All Chariots (Burning Edition)

Posted on December 2, 2014 by PB Rippey

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 →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Faction, Fiction, Poetry, Writing | Tagged 2014, fiction, gods, Isis, life, Los Angeles, martinis, personal goals, poetry, road rage, Santa Barbara | Leave a comment

The Women’s National Book Association

Posted on March 1, 2014 by PB Rippey

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 2014, children's literature, Destiny Rewritten, fiction, fiction writing, Kathryn Fitzmaurice, middle grade writing, ocean, poetry, SCBWI, SCBWI CA/North Central, Women's National Book Association/LA, writing | Leave a comment

Walking to Floats (SoCal Edition)

Posted on January 3, 2014 by PB Rippey

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 2014, fiction, Los Angeles, Pasadena, poetry, Rose Parade floats, shaved ice, space aliens, writing | Leave a comment

December Whinny

Posted on December 18, 2013 by PB Rippey

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 →

Posted in books, Children's Books, Faction, Fiction, Poetry, Writing | Tagged 2013, children's literature, fiction, middle grade writing, Old Town Calabasas, Peddler's Fork, personal goals, writing | Leave a comment

Quote For The Weekend (RIP Edition)

Posted on August 8, 2013 by PB Rippey

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 →

Posted in books, Fiction, Quotes, Writer quotes, Writing | Tagged 2013, Amelia Peabody, Barbara Mertz, cats, Crocodile on the Sandbank, Elizabeth Peters, Eyptology, fiction, quotes on writing, Santa Barbara, The Hippopotamus Pool, writing | 2 Comments

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 PB Rippey

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 →

Posted in Poetry, Theatre, Writer quotes, Writing | Tagged 2013, fiction, palominos, personal goals, poetry, unicycles, writing | Leave a comment

Quote For The Weekend

Posted on January 19, 2013 by PB Rippey

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 2013, Catallus, fiction, fiction writing, Junot Diaz, quotes on writing, writer, writing | 5 Comments

And There Is A Storm And Here Is A Cat

Posted on October 29, 2012 by PB Rippey

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 2012, cats, fiction, fiction writing, locust, poetry, storm, writing | 3 Comments

What Beauty Gets You

Posted on August 28, 2012 by PB Rippey

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 2012, Andrew Molera, beach, Big Sur, earthquakes, fiction, Hearst Castle, middle grade writing, Morro Bay, mule deer, ocean, Pfeiffer Beach, poetry, preschoolers, San Simeon, sea otters, tsunamis, writing | 4 Comments

Snow White Revisted (Part II)

Posted on August 15, 2012 by PB Rippey

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 2012, Creekside Inn, fiction, high school reunions, life, middle grade writing, Santa Barbara, snow white | 12 Comments

Links Time

Posted on August 2, 2012 by PB Rippey

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 →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Children's Books, Fiction, middle grade, Writing, Writing Tips | Tagged 2012, Alexandra Sokoloff, Beth Hull, children's literature, creative commons, fiction, middle grade writing, paninis, Pinterest, Pub Rants, public domain, Talia Vance, Veronica Rossi, wikimedia commons, writing, YA Highway, YA Muses | Leave a comment

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

Posted on July 29, 2012 by PB Rippey

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 →

Posted in ocean related, Poetry, Santa Barbara, Writer quotes, Writing | Tagged 2012, beach, children's literature, Ernest Hemingway, fiction, Ha Jin, John Irving, middle grade writing, ocean, poetry, preschoolers, quotes on writing, Rita Dove, T.S. Eliot, Viggo, writing | Leave a comment

Deep Summer Checkpoint

Posted on July 25, 2012 by PB Rippey

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 2012, children's literature, domestic bliss, E.B. White, fiction, fiction writing, Joyce Carol Oates, Ken Follet, palominos, poetry, preschoolers, quotes on writing, revision, toddlers, writing | 1 Comment

Deadwhat?

Posted on July 16, 2012 by PB Rippey

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 2012, children's literature, Coral Reefs, fiction, fiction writing, Jason Chin, Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go, ocean, personal goals, preschoolers, Rachel Carson, writer's angst, writing | 2 Comments