Paraphrasing Steinbeck
Posted: May 18, 2012 Filed under: cottage garden, Writers Write | Tags: bad puns, change of seasons, garden, Steinbeck, weather 2 Comments »This slideshow requires JavaScript.
San Antonio averages 300 days of sunshine a year. Last Friday wasn’t one of them. The white patch in the chair is ice. My patio is somewhere under the lake. The scene begs for cliché. When hail hell freezes over. When all hail hell breaks loose. Or to paraphrase Steinbeck, “I’ve lived in good climate, it bores the hail hell out of me. I like weather rather than climate.”
This isn’t the first time I’ve disagreed with Steinbeck.
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Sewing the Story
Posted: May 6, 2012 Filed under: Writers Write | Tags: design, engineering, sewing, writing 8 Comments »
I sew. I’m not enthusiastic about it. It would be easier to buy–pick an item and carry it to the cash register.
I know what I want to wear. Knowing is good, but it can be a pain. The colors, the lines, the textures, the weight–these things are obvious to me. And since I can’t afford Armani, retail isn’t an option. So, last week I chose a palette, found the trusty tissue patterns, and made a supply list on an index card. Yesterday, while my girls studied Chinese, I shopped.
Sewing is both design and engineering. Altering a pattern so I’m not yanking at my waistband all day–engineering. Changing up a tank top for variety–design. I see parallels in writing. Structuring a story–engineering. Choosing the right word–design.
I write for the same reasons I sew. I know what I want to read.
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Up All Night
Posted: May 5, 2012 Filed under: Just One Thing, Writers Write | Tags: all-nighter, books, Nora Roberts 1 Comment »
I did it again. Pulled an all-nighter. I wasn’t partying or working or studying. I was reading a Nora Roberts novel. It’s a compulsion. When the pub dates are posted, I mark my calendar.
This time, it was The Last Boyfriend, the second installment of The Inn Boonsboro Trilogy. A few weeks ago, it was the big stand-alone, The Witness. I read so fast; I read them twice. After all, I don’t want to miss anything.
Why all night? Why Nora Roberts? She makes me turn the page.
