A short while back, I listened to a T.V. screenwriter explain his process while making the series Colony. Carlton Cuse described a large room filled with writers throwing ideas around the room that bounced off of one another and grew bigger, taking shape and then forming storylines. The creator of the series Lost told the interviewer he… Read more
words
I am stuck. I have a deadline of May 19th to finish revising my novel and it won’t let me move forward. Maybe it’s because I’ve gotten side tracked with writing for the band I play with. Maybe it’s because the day job has been especially demanding lately. Maybe it’s because the cottonwood covering the… Read more
My mother-in-law Vivian likes to read popcorn Christian romances. You know the type. There’s a swooning woman and a shirtless guy on every cover of the stacks of books she keeps close at hand. God is always a player in these stories so they are not exactly Harlequins — but they aren’t far off. Once… Read more
I do kid crafts. Sometimes I do them without kids. My latest big idea was a Leap Year Day with a frog theme. (Get it? Leap? Frog? I found this grand idea surfing around the Internet.) I planned to make a time capsule out of a Pringles can, green construction paper and various cheap decor… Read more
When we first got on the ferry on our way to an island last week, I told my sons to look closely for whales. I had never yet seen one in the wild and always wanted to catch a glimpse. Maybe, I thought, today would be the day. They hang out in the waters near… Read more
On Monday, I hobbled into my teaching job. Every other step, pain zipped though the right side of my hip and forced me into a jerking sort of movement just short of a collapse. I could not keep my face straight or look people in the eyes until it eased up again. Over and over I heard… Read more
I promised last week to write about deadlines. Sigh. I don’t want to write about deadlines. I spent the last two months working toward two deadlines: an application for a project I would love to do and a fiction contest. I’m tired. And I’m scared. I’m scared the people reading my submissions will laugh. I’m… Read more
I am staring down two deadlines this week so this week’s wonders will be long on pictures and short on words. Flaming Geyser State Park has a very small flame from a natural methane source (in the concrete circle), but the wonder there and at Neely Mansion in the Green River Valley kept us entertained this weekend… Read more