If you’re thinking about taking a writing class with Joyce Maynard, I’d say go for it — on your laptop or at Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. Read more.
On Writing & Reading
Here you'll find author profiles as well as mini – and not-so-mini – book reviews. I’m a writer who loves to talk about writing, so if you like to write I hope you’ll stop by now and then for some writing tips and to chat about the writing life.
Writing Tips From a Famous Author — I Put on My Best Socks to Get Them
I’ve got years of writing experience to my credit. Why in the world would I spiff myself up to take a writing class from that famous author? Read more.
Polarization in America: Here’s Something You Can Do About It
This book is one writer’s response to polarization in America. She asks you to give it to someone who thinks like you — and someone who doesn’t. Read more.
A Book of Essays From Cartoonist Cathy Guisewite — Did She Write It or Did I? Sheltering at Home Week 26
Cathy Guisewite’s thoughts about life in “Fifty Things That Aren’t My Fault” look a lot like the thoughts running around in my own brain. Read more.
Watching People Working With Their Hands — Why Am I So Fascinated? Sheltering in Place Week 25
In Bologna they call them umarells, men hanging around building sites, watching people working with their hands. I’m an umarell. Here’s why. Read more.
Why Do ‘Those People’ Make Me So Mad? A Philosopher Sheds Some Light. Sheltering at Home Week 20
When we address “those people,” do we really want to be heard? Or do we just want to get mad, feel righteous and force our desired outcomes on those “other” people? Read more.
Why I Write About the Small Stuff — Like the Kettle Corn That Showed Up in Our Food Order. Sheltering in Place Week 4
A bag of kettle corn? How did that get into our on-line food order? Provisioning mishaps have provided comic relief to the coronavirus anxiety at our house. Read more.