AKA: How do you spell relief? My fourth grade elementary school picture would have been my favorite if it wasn’t for one thing. Even though I dutifully slept in curlers the night before, the damp weather at the school bus-stop in the morning caused my flip to flop. I didn’t realize how bad it was […]
When writing, try to leave out the parts that most readers skip. ~ Elmore Leonard It was a year ago this past November that Elliot, a member of the writer’s workshop I belong to, died. Although he’s no longer in this world, his writer’s counsel goes on. I frequently look at the poetry I’m working […]
I believe in the blue bird of happiness, which is why my journal has a picture of one glued to the inside cover. My latest journal is three years old. It’s fraying at the edges, putting on some pounds around the middle from me stuffing it full of ink marks, scraps of paper between pages, […]
“The trouble with poetry is that it encourages the writing of more poetry.” ~ Billy Collins My friend Jayn was complaining about how little time she’s had to write. She, primarily a studio potter, was recently going through some old papers and saw how many half written poems and book chapter drafts she had left […]
When I say “work” I only mean writing. Everything else is odd jobs. -Margaret Laurence I don’t remember who was holding the camcorder at the time, but the question posed was, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” My brother Jim had just answered. “A photographer,” he said. He was nearing […]
Tryptophan is my friend. I woke up this morning at 8:00 a.m. with that sentence in my mind. The capsule of tryptophan (the amino acid found in turkey and milk) that I swallowed at 4 a.m. had made me groggy, but it was worth it. I slept. Yesterday, I rode out to Ellett Valley in […]
After completing “The Jim and Dan Stories,” my writing didn’t abruptly stop, but the book had its own rhythm and timing and there came a point when the story was told. I continued to take notes and some stories came like aftershocks, too late to be included in the book. Soon, I put “The Jim […]
“Having something to say is more important than guessing what people want to hear.” ~ Barbara Kingsolver, spoken at the Floyd County High School auditorium, September 16, 2006 The line of people waiting to meet the acclaimed author, Barbara Kingsolver, wound from the high school library table where she was signing books, out through the […]
As a writer, it seems that I seesaw between the fast-paced productiveness of writing and the dead end crash it leads to when the bottom falls out. When I’m inspired, I complain that can’t write fast enough. When I’m not, I whine about having nothing to say. I know I should enjoy what is commonly […]
~ Taken from her talk in Floyd Virginia, September 16, 2006. To upcoming writers: Learn everything you can about the world. Start books that no one will want to read. Having something to say is more important than trying to guess what people want to hear. Quit smoking. Live long enough to have something wise […]
In Floyd we have locally famous artists, potters, wood-carvers, writers, and musicians; alongside well-diggers, saw-millers, hunters, and homebuilders. We also have midwives, herbalists, dousers, and rites-of-passage ceremonialists. Is it any wonder that I publish my books from my log cabin home, from a make-shift office that used to be my son’s bedroom, which is why […]
AKA: Writers with Floyd-ties Hobnobbing One of the best parts about participating in the Franklin County Book Festival this past weekend was hanging out with Fred, Floyd’s First Blogger, and running into fellow presenter and old friend, Jim Minick. Jim is a regional writer, past Roanoke Times columnist, a teacher of writing and literature, and […]
