April 2012

April 27, 2012 | 0 comments

I will spend my life learning about God, from His Word, from His creation, from teachers, and those who teach without even knowing it.  For me, writing is all about learning more about Him, what He wants from me personally, how I can live to please Him, and walking this life knowing there will be a day when I, like every other human being on the planet, will meet Him face-to-face.

 

Sometimes the world is just too complex and hurtful, and I want to escape.  I’ve imagined myself a lamb in a pasture where Jesus is standing watch.  I approach and lie down at His feet, my head on His foot.  I know I’m safe.  I’m in the fold. 

 

There are things I will never understand.  But I try.  I gather Scriptures and try to find a clearer understanding.  I feel responsible for what I write, the impressions I might leave.  I often wonder.  Am I hearing The Teacher or my own thoughts?  When in doubt, I...

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April 20, 2012 | 0 comments

There are days when the creative juices just aren’t flowing.  I stare at the computer screen and wonder, “What now?  Where do I go from here?”  I just don’t know. The characters are having a hissy fit and not talking to me or each other.  I have an inkling of an idea, but can’t find the words to start the scene and have it move with any sense of reality.  Fiction should make sense even if it is fiction.  Right? 

How often does this happen?  Too often for comfort. 

So what do I do?

Take a break and go outside with Sarge.  Throw the ball and watch him chase it.  Putter in the garden.  Get my hands good and dirty. Pick up the doggie doo-doo.  Vacuum.  I love to vacuum.  Sarge loves the vacuum, too.  He likes to attack it.  I like to chase him with it. 

Music helps.  I have a binder full of CDs.  When I was writing The Last Sin Eater, I listened to...

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April 14, 2012 | 0 comments

Hilary Rosen definitely stuck her foot in her mouth when she said Ann Romney isn’t qualified to discuss the economy because she “hasn’t worked a day in her life”.  Having stuck my foot in my mouth numerous times, I can imagine how Ms. Rosen feels.  In fact, there were years when I opened my mouth only long enough to change feet.  (During my women’s libber years.)  Even now, I catch my thoughts and realize I’m doing it again – people just can’t hear me or see me kicking myself. 

We all say things we regret.  As soon as the words fly out of our mouths, we wish we could grab them back and swallow them.  What we say often reveals what is in our hearts – and frankly, we all could benefit from some clear-headed self-examination on our attitudes. 

Women are not very nice to women.  Women who work outside the home tend to think the housewives lazy and uneducated, and housewives tend to judge career women as selfish and...

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April 6, 2012 | 0 comments

A couple of tall ships are visiting Bodega Bay.  I keep thinking about going out and standing on the dock to see them close up and maybe even get a tour.

But then, I have work to do.

Whenever I start a new novel, I feel like I’m treading water in the middle of the ocean, no land in sight.  Above me is the stormy sky, threatening rain and in the distance, lightning which will have nothing to strike but little old me bobbing around on the white caps.  Around and below me is the dark sea.  I’ve swum in the ocean before and remember the uneasy feeling of something under there in the darkness threatening to come up, grab hold and pull me down.  After seeing the movie “Jaws”, I now have a picture in my head of what that something is, which is why I’m too chicken to swim in the ocean any more.  Thank you very much, Peter Benchley. Ah, the power of the written word to plant ideas in a person’s head!  It doesn’t help that I live on the...

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