Fiction Writing: A Quest for the Perfect Toy

I’ve been so busy with “stuff,” I almost forgot to post about the beginning of a new course that I am enrolled in. It’s Fiction Writing through Gotham Writing Workshop, led by the same instructor as my previous Creative Writing 101, Chip Livingston. It’s week two, in which we learn about CHARACTER. This week’s assignment [...]

Read Full Post »

Moonlit Meditation (A-Z Archive: M)

Photo challenge brought to you by Frizztext Digital art inspired by 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. To see other M entries please visit this page. Related articles 1Q84 (A Review) (hapsarishita.wordpress.com) Book #1 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami (congenitallydisturbed.wordpress.com)

Read Full Post »

Eat, Play, Love (Sunday Post: Pleasure)

Sunday Post brought to you by jakesprinters For my dogs the biggest pleasure (after food and treats, of course) is fresh snow. And for me, it’s a great pleasure to watch them play and roll in it, dipping their noses and eating it. The only thing they haven’t thought of yet is making a snowdog. [...]

Read Full Post »

How legends are born

She floated in darkness, tranquil, like an autumn leaf on a puddle, when, from an ocean of nothingness, a tiny speck of light the size of an ant’s eye blinked shyly and lodged at the base of her soul. As she focused on the light, it began to swirl and shimmer, vibrating and expanding, until [...]

Read Full Post »

Weekly Photo Challenge: Indulge

I took this week’s theme to heart and went to town — literally and figuratively — indulging myself. First, I visited a home decor store and treated myself to some colourful displays: After I’d had my fill of shine and colour, I went to a bookstore next door: and got myself some books: What’s not [...]

Read Full Post »

A-Z Photo Challenge – H for Horses, History & Heritage!

Another photo challenge showed up on my virtual door step, courtesy of my blog’s new visitor Fergiemoto. I photographed these beauties and a shy, yet happy, cowboy in our local historical village Heritage Park that showcases the West as it once was. If you happen to be in Calgary, Alberta, especially during warmer months, don’t [...]

Read Full Post »

“Talent can be taught.” An interview with Chip Livingston, poet, writer, teacher.

Chip Livingston  is the author of the poetry collection Museum of False Starts. His fiction and non-fiction are also widely published, in journals including Ploughshares, Cincinnati Review, Potomac Review, Court Green, Subtropics, and Crazyhorse. He holds a BS in Journalism and a BA in English from the University of Florida, an MA in Fiction Writing from [...]

Read Full Post »

Be Weird or Miss the Boat?

In his recent newsletter, Jeff Goins, writer and blogger, whose blog I follow, had a statement that made me pause. “Nobody wants normal anymore. We all want weird,” he said. The Internet is a noisy place; if you whisper, no one will listen; if you follow the norm, you’ll miss the boat. Assuming I was [...]

Read Full Post »

Inspiration Unlimited, or the Magic of Writing Morning Pages

“… the first step toward being a writer is to hitch your unconscious mind to your writing arm.” Dorothea Brande First, please allow me to explain what morning pages are. In a nutshell, it’s a form of premeditated self-torture — of a sophisticated kind, mind you — for refined individuals like you and me. That [...]

Read Full Post »

Writing Exercise: Show Don’t Tell

As I mentioned in my previous post, I would like to share with you what I’ve learned in my CW101 class so far. I’ll start with my second week’s assignment and skip week one. That one I’ll save for later, because it has the potential to become a full-fledged story, and I would like to [...]

Read Full Post »