Show, don’t tell. Only use active verbs. And write what you know. Years ago, I attended a writers’ workshop in Port Townsend, Washington. Ursula Hegi (Stones in the River) described fact-checking the scene of a restaurant kitchen fire for a new … [Continue reading]
Five Boring Sparks of Creativity
A number of years ago I practiced the piano every day, half an hour before my kids had to get up for school. (And why did they tolerate my interrupting those last precious moments of sleep?) At first, I practiced old pop tunes and then I graduated … [Continue reading]
Tong Ha Ha
On a recent trip to Bhutan, I fell in love with the stark, snow-capped Himalayas, the orange and blue and green and yellows of the painted lintels on the houses, terraced hillsides littered with shaken rice sheaves, first-growth mossy forests, and … [Continue reading]
Hubris
I remember the first time I heard the word hubris. It sounded like a personal quality you didn’t want, but maybe sheepishly admitted to. And then soon afterward, I heard the word again. I looked it up in the dictionary multiple times, unable to hold … [Continue reading]