The Helen Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico doesn’t want to offer me a three-month residency in 2014. Rejection always, always hurts. No matter how many you receive, and believe me, I’ve received boatloads, it still stings. It’s still impossible not, for those first few blaring minutes, to take it personally, to think that someone is… Read More A rejection, and an epiphany on Mount Marathon
When I found myself stuck in Chapter Nine of my second novel, Searching for My Daughter’s Ghost, I got on my bike and rode the Coastal Trail downtown to visit my friend, S, in her lovely and airy condo. The sky was overcast but warm, and it was nice to sit in a comfy chair in S’s… Read More Vegan blackberry muffins, and love
I became lost earlier this evening while running a 10K race over the trails in Kincaid Park. I was talking with a running friend and we both missed the small yellow prompt and ended up at the finish line a mile too early. Later, driving home, I wondered: How often in life have I missed a turn and finished too… Read More Lost
It may be 80 degrees throughout much of the country but here in Alaska, it’s cold and cool, with temps in the mid- to upper-50s. I spent most of the weekend writing. My agent sent a senior reader review of the first half of my second novel, Waiting for My Daughter’s Ghost, and I was pleased… Read More Summer, Alaska style
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
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
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
Seward, Alaska is a dream. Or at least it was when we were there this past weekend. Perfect blue skies, sunshine, temps in the mid-30s. What is it about small towns that are so enticing, that suck you in, cause you to slow down and savor each moment? That is what we did: We savored.… Read More Hanging out in Seward, Alaska
Cinthia Ritchie 