Well, my project to write each day of September was a big, fat failure. Oh, I wrote, I just didn’t write my stuff. I wrote journalism stories and briefs and obituaries. Which is still writing, still honing the craft. But it didn’t cause me to ponder or question or wonder or dig down deep inside of myself,… Read More Writing fail, and big Alaska photo drop
I know, I know: You’re all sitting at the edge of your seats wondering how my Write Every Day For a Month pledge is coming along. I’m happy to say that it started with stunning optimism. Bright and early on the morning of Sept. 1, I jumped out of bed, ate a hearty breakfast, sat down… Read More Day three: Alaska beach walk
I work as a journalist, for those of you don’t know. I edit and write a weekly newspaper for a small, bedroom community outside of Anchorage, Alaska. I enjoy my job, sometimes, though the workload is intense and the hours are long and the attention to detail does little to suit my nature. This job naturally requires that I write.… Read More Writing, even if it’s not the “right” writing
I love reading blogs. It’s my biggest guilty pleasure. I’m not much for Facebook and while I do love Twitter, my heart lies with blogs. Following other people’s lives feels slightly voyeuristic, much like luxuriating inside a long novel. You begin to know people, and care about them, even though you’ve never met. You build relationships. I “met” Eliza… Read More An unlikely agent success story
Isn’t it funny, the things that haunt us? Last weekend I covered a summer festival in my newspaper beat town and as I drove to the store afterwards, I noticed something white in the middle of the road. At first I thought it was a plastic trash bag but then realized, with a sick feeling in my stomach, that it was… Read More White cat, in the middle of the road (and William Carlos Williams)
It was dark, and there was no sound, no smell. When I opened my eyes all I could see were silver bubbles escaping from my mouth. It was about 9 p.m. and I was swimming across DeLong Lake on a windy evening, the sky still light but overcast, the temperature, which had been close to… Read More That scary void
Well, this is embarrassing but here it is, my Throwback Thursday reminder that a) I don’t look good in really long hair and b) my younger sister will always be the more poised, polished and sophisticated sibling. Yet, looking through old photographs today also reminded me how far I’ve come writing-wise. Back in college I majored in English,… Read More Throwback Thursday (Or how my Richard Leakey crush led me to writing)
You know how it goes. Someone asks you, and it could be anyone, a waitress at your favorite restaurant, a close friend, a lover. It doesn’t matter who it is, only the way you hear the words when they ask, whisper, demand: What do you want? And you might say, a burrito with hot sauce;… Read More The things we want
I’m sure most of you have heard about the tiff between Hachette Book Group and Amazon. It’s a contract dispute, and according to an article in the Washington Post titled Amazon said to play hardball in book contract talks with publishing house Hachette, Amazon isn’t exactly playing fair. Amazon has allegedly held up shipment of select Hachette books,… Read More Amazon behaving badly
I can’t remember when I first fell in love with books but I know that it was early, and that I fell hard. I read all through elementary school. I sat at my desk, a book tucked on my lap, and as the rest of the class learned fractions and state abbreviations, I paced my… Read More Kindle love (or, I’m reading as fast as I can)
Cinthia Ritchie 