Thoughts about writing, and the universe.
I'm forever more a planner when I write. Perhaps not down to the minute detail, and certainly my plans change as I go along, but I like to have a basic outline of plot events and thematic points that I expect the story to take up. I make long documents for planning, pages and paragraphs... Continue Reading →
I'm writing this shorter post this week on the first of May, a bright and sunny Saturday in this string we have been having of sun and brilliant blue sky days, despite continued cold. Today, I'll be joining the first year students for the yearly hike up Jarstadheia, the local mountain, about 1900 feet. So... Continue Reading →
We have a short spring break this year, and with Covid numbers at their highest yet in Norway, any travel is confined to the local area. I have been using the time to write, read, cook, and hike. Although it is still cold, some very welcome sunshine the last two days sent us out onto... Continue Reading →
A quicker post today. I am the teacher on duty this weekend, and yesterday medical situations kept me down on campus a couple of hours past the norm. I'm also running the last day of a project-week of bread baking with students. Monday I begin oral exams for my English language learner students. It will... Continue Reading →
When the tide recedes, great shards of frozen fjord shatter against the shore. The ocean leaves them there as it pulls back from the land, and they pile up in a jagged ruin that stretches all around the bay at Flekkefjord. When the sun is blazing and the tide is moving at its fastest, you... Continue Reading →
My husband and I took the money we would have spent on a trip back to the US this summer and bought a Raku kiln for our ongoing ceramics adventure. After more than a month's wait, the kit arrived finally in late July, and my husband spent a whole day (until about 11:00pm) working through... Continue Reading →
In the rush through of this so different summer, at last the rain has broken. Three days of sun erupted miraculously into the forecast, and in a fevered burst we made our travel plans. Covid-19 seems to be controlled in Norway. The country mostly reopened in mid-May, and new case numbers have held low at... Continue Reading →
A week ago, just as I was finalizing last week's blog post, I received an email letting me know that a magazine wanted to publish a short piece I had submitted to them. Oh? They do? Oh! Oh my. My that feels good. It has taken me some time, some grief, and lots of effort.... Continue Reading →
Good things take time. Good writing is no exception. I tell my students that the best draft is almost always the next one, with more distance, more perspective, the images distill into something sharper. We're able to write closer to what we mean, or then, what we mean to say becomes clearer to ourselves. In... Continue Reading →
This week's post is part of the monthly Author Toolbox Blog Hop. On the third Wednesday of each month (except for November and December), check out the blogs of other great writers to learn about writing craft, process, and business. For years, flossing my teeth was never going to happen. The morning of a dentist's... Continue Reading →
Words like trees 