You may have run across that TV show Hoarders: Buried Alive on TLC, the one where a therapist helps someone dig out of their junk-packed rooms.   Most Americans seem to wrestle with clutter these days, at least judging by the number of businesses and magazine articles devoted to solving the problem. Hoarding goes beyond messiness to, […] Read More

From Randee Russell Bieler, formerly of Raleigh, now of Malibu:      Amazing, the resilience of fear.  I went away for a week, a long overdue family vacation, and four days in, I had  forgotten all the positive things I have figured out  about self-publishing this book.  Why is fear my default  position?  It really […] Read More

It's a thrilling feeling when the wave grabs hold of the board, and it rockets forward, no more paddling needed.  I enjoyed that experience for several seconds at a time Saturday before toppling sideways into the water.     My first surfing lesson was at 9 o'clock, before the strong sun and the big crowds […] Read More

From Randee Russell Bieler:   Ahh, the power of saying things out loud.   Now that Peggy has posted my first blog entry, people are beginning to get back to me and I’m nudged by the reality of my decision.  I spent a few hours on the phone and poring over research I had been noodling […] Read More

Latest bold moves include: *signing up for a surfing lesson.  I've been meaning to do this since I was in the third grade. My lesson will be at Wrightsville Beach, NC.  I Googled surfing techniques to prepare for this and learned that it's necessary to do something called a pop-up.  This involves lying face-down and […] Read More

I'm having trouble with my Comments section on this blog. If you have left a comment here that didn't show up and didn't get a reply from me, please let me know at [email protected]. If you did leave a comment that I never saw,  I'm so sorry I missed it. Don't give up. I'm going to get this […] Read More

Randee Russell Bieler, a dear friend who once lived in Raleigh, now in Malibu, has published a collection of short stories, Bombs , and had movies made from her scripts, one of which (Graffiti, a short) was nominated for an Academy Award.   Randee's announcement:       I am going to self-publish my novel.   There –  […] Read More

Had a couple of what my husband and I call Nature Experiences this weekend. From the "sanctuary" of my little garden, we swept into this blue trash can a medium-to-large copperhead.  And we're enjoying the once-every-thirteen years arrival of cicadas, hundreds of thousands of them.  I'm not one who is especially bothered by bugs (except millipedes) or snakes (except […] Read More

 Christina Askounis, of the creative writing faculty at Duke, is an extraordinary teacher.  I sometimes give out in my workshops copies of a quote from her about following even the faintest glimmer of an idea: "There is always something: like Blake's golden string, one need only take hold of the end and start to wind it into […] Read More

Update: * I got my two regular writing groups started, something I'd long hesitated to do, and I'm very happy with how they're turning out. Every Wednesday afternoon, three writers come to my office for reading and feedback (and tea.) Then another three come at seven. Both groups are a good combo of people doing […] Read More