On a screwy day (of the sort when I keep making dumb little mistakes), I’ve never been sure of the best strategy: plunge ahead or freeze. Yesterday was a bit like that (though not the worst.) I went to a two hour Christmas get-together, the sort of thing where you get there on time. I […] Read More

The change: last night I made a vat of fudge. Ordinarily I don't cook. And this is not an overstatement. If I ever made fudge before, it was more than forty years ago and utilized a mix and an onsite advisor. But the hint of a whim to do this touched me a few days […] Read More

Every time I take a slight break from blogging, I find that the first time back takes more energy. And I’m slightly hesitant. There’s no good reason for this other than the power of inertia. A moving object once stopped needs a wee boost to get going again. Providing one’s-self this boost is a mini-version […] Read More

  On short pieces:   One-time flat fee of $95 for a critique of up to 40  pages for manuscripts received by January 1.   Fiction or nonfiction; excerpt, book proposal, short fiction, or article.    You'll receive a report on structure, use of language, pacing, any needs for tightening, missing pieces, suspense and "engaging-ness." I write a summary of […] Read More

The office upstairs from mine opened up yesterday. (Sad to say, Greenpeace is moving.)   But the change opens a space in this charming, historic 1910 “office house” at the downtown edge of Raleigh’s Oakwood, a few blocks from the Capitol.   The building, called Free Range Studio, currently contains four writers, one small art […] Read More

When I moved my site last week to this new location, I was sad to lose my 52 formally committed “Followers.” I think Frequent Visitors would be a better term. Or Cybermates. Or Bold Blog Readers. (Perhaps you have some ideas?) Whatever it’s called, I hope you’ll sign up again — by clicking on either […] Read More

I'm envious of this guy Ben Bradlee, former editor of The Washington Post. Not because of his journalism career, stellar as that is. (He was in charge of Woodward and Bernstein and the Watergate story.) But because he decidedly doesn't have the slightest smidgeon of obsessive-compulsive disorder, of any kind of anxiety disorder. I know […] Read More

  Walking back from the Post Office just now, I noticed freshly-fallen yellow gingko leaves on the ground. There's no other leaf like a gingko.  When I was growing up in Wilmington, I knew where the only such trees in town were.  These fan-shaped items redefine "leaf." So I collected a few just now and […] Read More

One: I’ve revamped my website. Two and immensely larger: my husband and I combined our finances. After only 27 years of marriage. For a person of the freelance mentality, this is a large move. Bottom line: I’ve proved to myself all I feel the need to prove. No more keeping score on myself. I’m ready […] Read More

Don't live down to expectations. Go out there and do something remarkable. — Wendy Wasserstein quoted at She Writes (I also think one can stay in and do something remarkable.) Read More