In Anchorage, out by Kincaid Park and half-hidden by a network of weaving trails, lies a sweeping vista of sand dunes. The dunes rise up in white splendor. They rise up unexpectedly, and almost oddly. They are an anomaly, and because of that I love them, love to run up the dunes in my bare feet,… Read More A walk through the sand dunes
I’m in Portland, Oregon, holed up in a hotel suite with my sister and my mother. Tomorrow my son graduates with honors from Lewis & Clark College. I can’t begin to tell you what it was like to see him to today, how my heart sang whenever I caught sight of his face, which is… Read More My heart sings
Today was a good writing day and a much-needed one, too, since I had been in a slump, had dreaded sitting down at my desk. I’d sit there and play Spider Solitaire and wait for inspiration or clarity or even my goddamn muse, who had apparently abandoned me. Finally I’d write and oh, what dreadful writing,… Read More Chapter Six, and Alaska sunset (at 11 p.m.)
Enter to win a free copy of Dolls Behaving Badly (written by yours truly) at A Room to Write’s Four for Friday giveaway. Check it out, and don’t forget to give Denise a big hello. She works hard to promote authors and deserves a big pat on the back. (Thanks so, so much, Denise! I think… Read More Free book, and springtime Alaska photos
I’m always afraid to submit a manuscript to a publisher or literary magazines. I mean, it’s so scary, isn’t it? Anonymous editors judging our work and maybe even making snarky comments to the co-editor sitting next to them. I know. I used to work as an editor and yes, sometimes I did make snarky comments,… Read More Submission fears
I don’t remember where it was that I first read Evan Nagle’s At a Train Junction Near Foss Lake, Utah. I do remember that the words hit me like a slap. I was momentarily stunned. I love when a poem burrows beneath my skin and pricks at my muscles, leaves little nips along my tendons. A… Read More Oh, how I love this poem by Evan Nagle
I wanted to showcase one of my favorite poems by Evan Nagle, but alas, my main computer is temporarily down and I can’t access my files. So I’m posting photos of a recent run/hike up Powerline Pass Trail instead. While most of you folks in the Lower 48 are wearing shorts, this is Alaska springtime, hee,… Read More Alaska springtime photos, and no poem
Welcome to Texas. No, I’m not in the second biggest state (Alaska is bigger, hee, hee), but my book is. A friend from my writing group (thanks, Lucian!), spotted Dolls Behaving Badly at the Hudson Bookstore in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. So. Friggin’. Cool. Big-haired Texans will soon be reading my naughty prose. I love the… Read More I’m in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, or at least my book is
Maybe it’s because I recently had an essay published about my sister (who died of complications of an eating disorder), or maybe because I spoke to my younger sister yesterday, or maybe because I’m worried about my oldest sister, but I can’t get Adrienne Rich’s Women poem out of my head, especially the last line:… Read More Adrienne Rich, and blueberry vegan muffins
Today my favorite moose showed up in the yard for a visit. It was nice. Moose always make me happy (except when they charge me on the trails). There is something endearing and comical about their long, thin faces, their knobby knees, their lumbering gaits. (Or, homely as a house, as Bishop writes in her… Read More My moose, and Elizabeth Bishop’s The Moose poem
Cinthia Ritchie 