You have come to the shore. There are no instructions. —Denise Levertov Imagine this spine is two inches long; imagine it is enormous. Imagine that you have no idea where it came from; why it is here. Imagine that you turn to get back into the vessel in which you arrived and the boat… Continue Reading >>>
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Where do You Go From Here: Breakthrough for Now, June 2020
Here is a woman. She believes she has forever – or, at least forty more years – to work at her beloved craft, to live in a beloved place. She is, of course, wrong. She knows that it is pointless to worry about where she will go next. All that is necessary and holy is… Continue Reading >>>
Can You Remember?: Breakthrough for the week of 5/13/2019
Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be? — Charles Bukowski Tell us. Even if you can’t remember. Create a quiet place in which you won’t be interrupted. Leave all your tech devices locked in a drawer or glove compartment. You are allowed a timer – most assuredly… Continue Reading >>>
Where is your safety? What does it cost you? Breakthrough for the week of 4/29/2019
All her hoarding had depleted her. So it went, with safety, the more you guarded, the less you had. —Richard Powers, The Echomaker Tell us about the person who owned this couch. To do that, you will need to persuade us that at one point, that couch was beautiful in the eyes of the… Continue Reading >>>
Please Join Me for an Intensive Writing Weekend in Markleeville, California, Oct. 5-7
Writer, you know what you need for your work. It is time to grant yourself a gift. October 5, 6, and 7, 2018 Markleeville, CA (near astounding Lake Tahoe) $400.00 The real writer is one who really writes… …Work is its own cure. You have to like it better than being loved. —Marge Piercy You… Continue Reading >>>
Sky Songs: Breakthrough Tip for the week of October 30
The bluesman Townes Van Zandt told us what matters: “Bukka White used to call them sky songs, ’cause he’d reach up and pull ’em out of the sky. It seems to me they (songs) just kind of come through me almost. Just all of a sudden k-k-k-k-k-k-k-k! (That’s a sound approximating lightning.). Write this down.… Continue Reading >>>
Fabulous addition to love for Spokescat, Ruti, the Red
Here are remembrances from Carmel, Putter and Mitzi from Jae Peterson: Share on Your Social Media Continue Reading >>>
The Self That Hungers for Eternity: Breakthrough Tip for the week of 4/3/2017
Have you met? You and your self that hungers for eternity? If you know this demanding creature, you know what poet Mary Oliver knows. Emilie Vardaman, my student at the the Sierra Vista Writing Celebration, sent me this remarkable writing by Oliver . I recognized myself and my life instantly in the first paragraph. Do you?… Continue Reading >>>
The Bi-polar World of the Somewhat Successful Writer: Breakthrough for the week of 3/20/2017
The Talker was reviewed in the New York Times a few days ago. Perhaps more accurately it was mini-reviewed by a women who clearly had not read the whole book. Here is the review, followed by my letter to her. It is definitely not professional to send a pissy letter to a slip-shod reviewer, but, then again, I’ve… Continue Reading >>>
Write it Out, Right it Out: Breakthrough tip for 11/18/2016
You know. If you visit this site regularly, you know how and why you are writing, not writing, thinking about writing, afraid of writing, dancing with your writing. Writing is a muscular practice. You are the student and the coach. Write for thirty minutes using this image/these words as your prompt.You won’t get it wrong.… Continue Reading >>>
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