I finally finished my novel (Waiting For My Daughter’s Ghost) rewrite. It took me over three months, countless sleeplessness nights and too many damned tears. I wrote the best book that I could. I gave it all of my energy, time, emotions and heart. I bled for my book, I bled happily and freely and unabashedly.… Read More Finished (or, wanting two things and only getting one)
I didn’t think I’d like The Daddy Diaries by Joshua Braff. For one thing, it’s written by a man. No offense, but 90% of the books I read are written by women. I don’t consciously gravitate toward women authors; it just sort of/kind of happens. **Note: Please don’t confuse The Daddy Diaries book with The Daddy Diaries blog by the cowboy-hat-wearing,… Read More The Daddy Diaries review
A few days ago I went to the library, sat in the Alaska section with the first 100 pages of my novel rewrite, and got to work. It was a rainy and cloudy day, and I sat by a window that overlooks a park (the grass all smeary with duck poop), and as I sipped… Read More Third person or first person? Damned if I know.
I am Exhausted. Tired. Mentally fatigued. Last night I fell asleep while writing, my laptop perched cozily on my lap, my back propped by two pillows still covered with cat hair from our recently deceased cat. I fell asleep, no lie, with a piece of chocolate in my mouth. I fell asleep before even swallowing… Read More Writing and living: A necessary balance
Anyone who reads this blog probably knows that I’ve been struggling for months over my second novel rewrite. I’ve cried, despaired, eaten far too many bags of pretzels and printed out hundreds of pages. I’ve done character analysis and plot outlines, I’ve killed off one character, only to find her sneaking her way back in… Read More An unexpected gift
I fuc*ed up my novel rewrite big time. I did what I often do when I’m insecure or uncertain: I abandoned my own instincts (abandon all hope, ye who enter here) and wrote what I thought my editor might want or what unknown and faceless readers might want or what that guy in grad school… Read More Writing my way out of a big mistake
Most of the time my life is pretty boring. I sit in a chair in front of my desk and try to write. Sometimes words come out, sometimes not. Every so often I pause to get something to eat or check email or mess around on Twitter or read a few chapters from this book… Read More My wild Alaska life
It was a typical Friday night and my partner and I got cozy on the couch to watch Unbroken (were we the only people on the planet who hadn’t seen this?). As a runner, I had been looking forward to this. I anticipated realistic footage of the strain and struggle it takes to become world-class athlete (I… Read More But is it realistic?
It’s late at night, the moon shining through the living room window. I should be asleep but I’m not. I’m lying with the cat, awake but sleepy. I’m enjoying the night, enjoying the silence, enjoying my own company. My partner is away for the night, down in Homer to check on the cabin while I… Read More A night alone (or, my crush on a Trixie Belden character)
So there I was, sinking down in a hot bath after having run over 45 miles for the week, and my partner sticks his head in the door. “You have to see this,” he says. And I’m like: Whatever. I’m old. I’m resting my legs. Leave me alone. “No, really. There’s a moose outside the… Read More Guess who came to visit?
Cinthia Ritchie 