Odds & Ends

Into the Fire: What Happened Was…

October 24, 2011

This weekend I attended The Sun magazine’s annual writers’ workshop, “Into the Fire” at Esalen in Big Sur. Having been to one of these workshops four years ago, I anticipated the weekend as eagerly as a child anticipates an Oreo cookie–imagining twisting it apart, licking out the luscious filling, then biting into the crisp chocolate [...]

Read the full article →

Blogtalk: Characterizing Yourself, NaNoWriMo, Free Memoir Writing Conference, and Creating Inspiration

October 14, 2011

With all the possibilities journaling offers, from simply writing on lined notebook paper to beautiful and complex art journals, I found Quinn Creative’s recent post, Journaling with Words, humorous and enjoyable. Plus, she offers a great journaling exercise to help you identify and acknowledge the creative aspects of your personality. When I saw the exercise, [...]

Read the full article →

A Week’s Worth of Journaling Prompts: Our Worst Habits

September 26, 2011

Everyone has habits. Some of these habits we think of as “good” and some as “bad.” If we’ve labeled a habit as bad, it’s probably because we consider it to be unhealthy in some way, such as smoking or drinking too much. Or perhaps you think it’s a bad habit because it annoys someone you [...]

Read the full article →

Blogtalk: How Books and Media Reflect Our Social Conscience

September 23, 2011

Last week, I viewed a fascinating TED video with Lauren Zlaznick. Through the results of a study conducted of popular television shows over the last five decades, Slaznick demonstrates how media reflects the attitudes, concerns, and beliefs of our culture. I wondered, as I watched it, if the same was true of books. Then, lo [...]

Read the full article →

Books, E-books, and the Future of Bookshelf Browsing

August 30, 2011

Books are not made for furniture, but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a house. ~ Henry Ward Beecher ~ I love books — and I mean love them. I love the scents of fresh paper and ink. I love the fragrance of ancient, yellowed paper, the musty smell of dust and the [...]

Read the full article →

Author Interview: Kate Farrell & Wisdom Has a Voice Project

August 11, 2011

Today, I have the privilege of interviewing Kate Farrell, founder and editor of Wisdom Has a Voice, a multimedia memoir project in which women write about their relationships with their mothers. Watch the following video of the interview (in 2 parts), or scroll down and read Kate’s answers to the interview questions. Transcript: AS: Kate [...]

Read the full article →

Blogtalk: Balancing Creativity and the Digital Life

August 5, 2011

We writers have a tendency to grouse about how difficult it is to stay focused. We distract ourselves with email, FaceBook, Twitter, and phone texts — all in the name of “social networking” — and then we complain about it. Ben Brooks posted a thoughtful article about the importance of taking responsibility for our Digital [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →