Writing about place, people, and whatever parts of the universe I'm lucky to see.
With IB exams canceled this year, second-year students have been given the choice of continuing with their classes or not. I've had a little less than half my English Language & Literature group stick with me, and freed of assessment's narrow course, we were without direction, of a sudden free. The students said they wanted... Continue Reading →
This week's post is part of the monthly Author Toolbox Blog Hop. Check out other participants' posts here. The #AuthorToolboxBlogHop is a great way to connect with other writers and build our own repertoire of craft knowledge alongside. Check it out! A wonderful professor of mine, Deborah Appleman, once told me that life is a... Continue Reading →
In the story I have been drafting these last weeks, I've hit up against real edges in my knowledge. I have dived on into research, poring over academic articles, newspapers, and of course Wikipedia. I have taken awful volumes down of notes. I have learned much, and I've asked questions. I am generally not a... Continue Reading →
It is hard for me to just not finish a book. I hem and haw, delay. I grudgingly slog another page. There are so many books I want to read, after all--why agonize, insist on finishing one I'm not enjoying? Is it the uncertainty of how to mark it on my Goodreads account, or something... Continue Reading →
An update Three days after my last post, it was announced the school would close. We are sending students home. Last week's heartbreak is compounded. On Wednesday, we celebrated an early Graduation for the second-years. Each day since then, our numbers have been whittling. There are some students who cannot go home. Borders open up... Continue Reading →
This post is part of the monthly Author Toolbox Blog Hop, in which writers post great resources and information relevant for other writers. Check out other #AuthorToolboxBlogHop posts here! And a caveat to the above: how useful will this post be to other writers? Perhaps not very. It's somewhat journal-heavy. It's somewhat bland. But if... Continue Reading →
There are few films (and I find it a bit ironic that it is the film we go to before the book here) more called upon for inspiring young writers than Dead Poets Society, in which charismatic literature teacher Mr. Keating (Robin Williams) leads a group of teenage boys to discover their personal voices. In... Continue Reading →
A paradox of fiction writing (and perhaps too of reading) is the power of the storytelling to make us more aware of our real worlds. As the painter studies a subject and seeks to understand each detail of light, color, and shape, so we, when we write, are looking into things' hearts and seeking the... Continue Reading →
This last week at school was a different theme: no classes, the first years busy with a first-aid course and Model United Nations, for which they dressed their best and debated the future of our world. The second-years, meanwhile, had project week, and my husband and I led a small group in a three-day journey... Continue Reading →
This week's post is part of the monthly Author Toolbox Blog Hop, in which some thoughtful, engaged writers post ideas relevant to the writing community. Check out other great posts here! The snow came to Norway indecisive. It came in the morning and turned rain by afternoon. It snowed all night then melted into slush.... Continue Reading →
Jimmy Kindree 