Writing about place, people, and whatever parts of the universe I'm lucky to see.
Many times I have heard writers talk about a character seeming to lift up off the page, feel real enough that they start telling their own story. Writers say, "The story writes itself. The character told me what they'd do." If I'm honest, most times when I hear these things I roll my eyes. I... Continue Reading →
Over these last couple of years, I have learned the power of goal setting to push my writing forward. In 2021, I set goals for monthly word count, submissions, and publications, and as I could have foreseen, met only the two goals I had meaningful control over. That was a good lesson learned. In 2022,... Continue Reading →
As part of my research for the novel I'm working on, which focuses on ceramics, I've been taking some of my writing time to explore what I can of an important figure in the craft, one who was a "great grandfather" to me in terms of my ceramics education (that is, a teacher of my... Continue Reading →
I'm writing this short post on Thursday night. When it comes Sunday, I'll be away with students skiing. Down here near the fjord, winter cannot hold. It snows and rains, hail and slush and sleet. We will retreat into the mountains where it's cold and clear, the snow so deep, if memories of the last... Continue Reading →
During the last month, I've read (or listened to) two books of history of different Native American peoples, Staci Drouillard's Walking the Old Road: A People's History of Chippewa City and the Grand Marais Anishinaabe and Elizabeth Fenn's Encounters at the Heart of the World: A History of the Mandan People. These narratives took two... Continue Reading →
Where does a good story come from? What are its core ingredients? I found myself this week seeking inspiration, and little coming. I've set myself a goal of two new pieces to produce in the coming six-week push. I haven't started yet--I've been focusing on older projects. What do I need to get me started?... Continue Reading →
I am writing this afternoon from home in Norway. We made it back on New Year's Eve after a beautiful and wonderful Christmas together with my parents on the island of La Palma. I feel so fortunate to have been able to do this trip. Everyone has now made it home safely, and we'll start... Continue Reading →
The term ended in a flurry of hard work, and winter break has now opened up before us. Instead of going home this year, we have traveled to Spain, first to Madrid to visit friends of my husband's, then on to the Canary Islands off the southern coast of Morocco. In this post I will... Continue Reading →
Typically the snow here doesn't stay. It falls, it melts, maybe in January and February we will have a few weeks of solid snow. This year, it's come early. In the first days of December, we had our first dusting, followed in the night with enough snow to cover up the grass, to make it... Continue Reading →
We managed to find a turkey this year for our school's Thanksgiving celebration. Turkeys are not common here in Norway--last year we had the school celebration earlier, and not until a few weeks afterward did we find a turkey in the shop. We made three very cute roast chickens instead. This year, we found a... Continue Reading →
Jimmy Kindree 