Last night my husband and I took a brisk walk to the Orange Line, rode down to Chinatown, and had a delightful meal at Pho Pasteur. Boston is far more accessible now than it was when we lived at the end of a commuter line. I love train rides, but thankfully the time is shorterContinue reading “Fanboying…and Writer’s Block”
Follow the Camera
My editor friend and I have been talking about camera angles for some time. Several month ago, she told me to put a microphone in Nic’s (my protagonist) head and a camera on his shoulder. Sometimes it’s easy; other times, I miss the boat entirely because I get lost trying to capture the place andContinue reading “Follow the Camera”
Where Dialogue and Action Meet
My current project is a first person limited narrative in which the protagonist, Nic, reflects extensively on the past and studies family artifacts—photos, documents, and the like. Sometimes he makes things up, building fiction on the narratives he learned as a child. One of the challenges constantly presenting itself is the integration of context andContinue reading “Where Dialogue and Action Meet”
Variations on Education
Every now and again, I think about Ambrose Bierce, who died somewhere in Mexico in January 1914, though sources disagree on exactly where and no one seems to have found the body. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” helped me find a starting point for my love of literature and “The Devil’s Dictionary” reinforced myContinue reading “Variations on Education”
A Wizard of Earthsea—from the Afterword
At first I was tempted to apologize for the number of times I have written about Ursula K. LeGuin. You may think “he’s obsessed!” Or “it’s a sickness!” Perhaps you’re right. My “to read” stack is deep; it includes Toole and Saramago, Corey and Saenz, Kingsolver and Russell and Munro and Gaiman. And that’s justContinue reading “A Wizard of Earthsea—from the Afterword”
Conversations on Writing: Fiction
“There is so much less reading in schools, and very little teaching of grammar. For a writer this is kind of like being thrown into a carpenter’s shop without ever having learned the names of the tools or handled them consciously. What do you do with a Phillips screwdriver? What is a Phillips screwdriver? We’reContinue reading “Conversations on Writing: Fiction”
Title Games
My editor asked me to explore verb possibilities for my Work-in-Progress. The first line is the current title. Everything else is possibility. Nanay Is DancingNanay was DancingNanay DancedNanay Had DancedWhen Nanay DancedOnce, Nanay DancedDid Nanay Dance?Nanay’s Last DanceWho Was This Woman?She Danced at the WeddingNanay and MeOlongapoMorning in Lehigh CityNanay Once DancedMa! Kumakain Ka NaContinue reading “Title Games”
Who is Eileen?
“The work took hours, which was partly why Jimmy Quinn was so late waking up the next morning, but only partly. Eileen Quinn once observed that getting Jimmy up for school was more like performing a resurrection than providing a wake-up call; never a willing early riser, Jimmy hated mornings even in space” (Russell, p.Continue reading “Who is Eileen?”
“Yellow of Brass…“
“When Sutty went back to Earth in the daytime, it was always to the village. At night, it was the Pale. Yellow of brass, yellow of turmeric paste and of rice cooked with saffron, orange of marigolds, dull orange haze of sunset dust above the fields, henna red, passionflower red, dried-blood red, mud red: allContinue reading ““Yellow of Brass…“”
Apologies and Adjustments
It has been a while since my last post. The combination of residence change, work change, two major holidays, and an extended daily commute have not been kind for my writing schedule. In addition, after a year hiatus, I have returned to my novel manuscript, and it has been difficult to balance the whole lot.Continue reading “Apologies and Adjustments”
Nicanor Abbott 