A few months ago, I submitted an essay to the Tucson Festival of Books Literary Awards Contest from the YMCA here in Tucson. I did this while sitting on the floor of the exercise room, my laptop beside me, a guy on the elliptical machine spraying sweat over my shoulders (I could say that his… Read More Tucson Festival of Books award-winning essay, and Gates Pass
So I’m in Tucson, with no Internet access (I’ve wisely scheduled these posts so that it looks as if I’m more connected than I really am, hee, hee), and when I finally got my butt to the library and opened up my email, I was met with good news: My hybrid creative nonfiction piece How Mary,… Read More A new publication and an upcoming anthology
I just spent two months away from the online world, as much as possible. I was gone so long that I forgot my WordPress and Twitter passwords. I have to admit that this was difficult at first. My mind didn’t want to slow down. It was hard (almost impossible) to sit and watch a movie… Read More Two months with almost no internet
Everyone’s posting black and white photos on Facebook lately and so when someone challenged me (thanks, Gail!), I converted a few of this year’s pics into black and white. I was surprised at what I saw. Black and white feels so much more distinct and complex. Each layer matters, each angle. Moods emerge where color… Read More Black and white challenge
Well, it finally happened. Among my many, many rejection letters I found (gasp!) an acceptance. Wild Violet Magazine wishes to publish “The Second to the Last Time.” It’s a prose poem with a killer ending (or at least that’s my humble opinion) and the editor said that it really spoke to her. So that’s one… Read More Poetry acceptance, and lots of Tucson love
So much has happened in the last couple of weeks. I finally (finally!) finished my novel rewrite and honestly, I wrote and rewrote that book so much I have no idea if I improved it or made it worse. Okay, okay, I know it’s improved, and by quite a bit but still, if you haven’t… Read More A residency, an anthology, and goodbye, Tucson
Well, we finally made it to Tucson. After a 35 hour flight, including 27 hours at the very lovely Salt Lake City airport (sarcastic coughs here), we straggled in, me with two suitcases and my partner lugging two guitars, an amplifier and two big backpacks. It was a trying trip, to say the least, and… Read More Poetry proofs, and hello to the desert
Well, I finally did it. I started reading “Wool” after downloading it to my Kindle months ago. I won it through a giveaway over at 101 Words and then kind of forgot about it. I don’t normally read sci-fi or futuristic genres; it’s just not my thing. But a few nights ago I found myself stranded… Read More I’m finally reading “Wool”
I came down to Tucson not just to enjoy the sunshine or run the trails, though I admit that I love the sunshine and love running desert trails. I came down to finish the memoir of my sister, who died almost fifteen years ago from complications of an eating disorder. I began the memoir shortly… Read More Saying goodbye to my sister (and Eva, too)
Oh dear, remember that song by the Spice Girls, “So tell me what you want, what you really, really want.” (Now I’m going to be singing that all night, sigh, sigh.) Probably, you think you do know what you want. I did, and it turns out that I was wrong, and on so many counts. I… Read More Tell me what you want, what you really, really want
Cinthia Ritchie 