Sticking with Morning Pages
I love my Morning Pages. In fact, I'm going on four years of doing them. And yet, these days, I'm having a hard time sticking to this practice. This is [...]
3
Mar, 2017
24
Jan, 2017
How I Feel About Blogging
"How do you feel about blogging?" Barbara Bos asked yesterday in the Facebook group Women Writers, Women's Books that I belong to. That got me thinking. Then it occurred to me that [...]
19
Jan, 2017
The Craftsmanship of Editing
It never fails to amaze me, even after so many years of working with texts, that, no matter how often you go over the same text, you still find [...]
28
Dec, 2016
Artist & Writer’s Workbook 2017
It's the time of year again to look back and plan ahead, so I am happy to present you with the Artist & Writer's Workbook 2017. It's free; [...]
7
Dec, 2016
Artful Blogging Giveaway
Today is St. Nikolaus, a day I remember fondly from my childhood (see my essay Giving Up Christmas in Tablet, which, incidentally, is an excerpt from my book Jumping Over Shadows.) [...]
1
Nov, 2016
My Artful Blogging Story
Scottish Highlands, August 2015 Today the winter issue of Artful Blogging hits newsstands, and it features my photo essay "The Accidental Travel Blogger." This is a dream come true for [...]
18
Oct, 2016
The Story of my Book Cover
Here it is, the cover of my memoir Jumping Over Shadows. And, incidentally, no sooner had we finalized the cover than the book appeared on amazon, book description, author bio and [...]
21
Jun, 2016
Insights from Judging a Writing Contest
Hemingway Birthplace Home, Oak Park, IL I just wrapped up serving as one of the judges in the Hemingway Shorts contest sponsored by the Hemingway Foundation of Oak [...]
5
May, 2016
Writing Exericse: A Startling Sound
Have you ever been startled by a sound you had never heard before? Stopped in your tracks, wondering what the hell was going on? Felice Benuzzi's unique adventure memoir [...]
29
Apr, 2016
Three Years of Morning Pages
I was sure it had been four years since I adopted the habit of writing Morning Pages, but one of the benefits of blogging is that it does provide a [...]
2
Mar, 2016
A Navy Blue Sigh – Reading The Language of Baklava by Diana Abu-Jaber
"Eventually, I hear footsteps crunching along the side of the house through the glazed snow and my mother's navy blue sigh through the frozen air." from The Language of [...]
12
Feb, 2016
The Post-Residency Interview
It's nice when you poke about cyberspace in the evening, too tired to do anything productive, but not quite ready for bed yet, and discover something neat and life-affirming, [...]
1
Feb, 2016
The Gift of a Poetry Reading
Yesterday I treated myself: I went to a poetry reading. Normally, I am loath to schlep up to the north side of the city on a Sunday afternoon, but it [...]
27
Dec, 2015
The Best of the Hemingway House 2015
Doing what I loved to do during my residency at the Hemingway Birthplace Home—poking about, taking pictures; here, in “Abba’s room,” i.e. the room of Ernest Hall, Hemingway’s maternal grandfather, [...]
24
Dec, 2015
One Reason to Write Memoir
This is not a drawing of the actual stone bridge mentioned in Traces, but it is pretty close to what I still see in my imagination. Here's one reason to [...]
21
Dec, 2015
Artist & Writer’s Workbook 2016
(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//forms.aweber.com/form/65/114379965.js"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, "script", "aweber-wjs-1pkfkcpzf")); It's the time of [...]
24
Nov, 2015
Winter Break In
We had a winter break in this past weekend. I know this is not the proper use of the English term "break in;" rather, it is a literal [...]
27
Oct, 2015
A Place to Write
My preferred cubicle at the Writers Workspace "So what do you do now that you don't have the Hemingway House?" I get that question a lot since my writer-in-residence [...]
27
Jul, 2015
Rejection vs. Failure
"You do your best work after your biggest disasters." Tim Robbins, as quoted in The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp I'm not sure that [...]
23
Jul, 2015
The Creative Bubble – Reading Twyla Tharp’s The Creative Habit
I have been in a creative bubble for the past few weeks, focusing my mental energies on a creative project, namely a restructuring of my memoir manuscript. I didn't know [...]
20
Jul, 2015
Farewell, Hemingway House!
My year as writer-in-residence at the Hemingway Birthplace Home in Oak Park has come to an end and as I say farewell to my studio in the attic, I treat [...]
16
Jul, 2015
Two Turrets: My Grandfather’s and Hemingway’s
Turret of the Hemingway Birthplace Home in Oak Park, Illinois Turret of my grandfather's former apartment in Liberec, Czech Republic The Hemingway Birthplace Home in Oak Park, Illinois has a [...]
13
Jul, 2015
The Way to Work
My days as the writer-in-residence at the Hemingway House in Oak Park are drawing to a close, and so I decided to document my drive there. I have come to [...]
28
May, 2015
A Picnic in Hemingway’s Attic
What could be more perfect than a bunch of writer friends holding a picnic in the attic of the Hemingway Birthplace Home? Where the gabled windows look out at [...]
14
Apr, 2015
Two Years of Morning Pages
Today is my two year anniversary of Morning Pages. Incidentally I find myself in the same spot where I began this practice in earnest: on the banks of the Potomac [...]
6
Mar, 2015
Collecting Words and Phrases
When I read, I underline words and phrases I like. Thanks to Liz Lamoreux's Inner Excavation and her idea of creating a word toolbox to "reveal the poet within," I've been [...]
24
Feb, 2015
Interview with Sarah Wildman
In December I interviewed Sarah Wildman about her book Paper Love. This was a particular privilege because Paper Love is my kind of story: figuring out what happened in a [...]
22
Feb, 2015
My First Newsletter
I just clicked the Send button for my very first newsletter, and I have to say it is like skating out on a pond, not quite knowing if the ice [...]
19
Jan, 2015
Mini Memoir Workshop @ Hemingway House
I'll be teaching a Mini Memoir Workshop at the Hemingway Birthplace Home as part of my gig as writer-in-residence. It will be a series of four evening classes in February [...]
15
Jan, 2015
Artist & Writer’s Workbook 2015
Before we move too far into this new year, I am happy to present you with the Artist & Writer's Workbook 2015. Last year, for the first time, I decided [...]
12
Jan, 2015
Four Years of Blogging
My four year blogging anniversary came and went, and I didn't even notice until I was looking for something else in my Morning Pages book from a year ago and [...]
24
Dec, 2014
Christmas Greetings from the Hemingway Birthplace Home
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate today and tomorrow! This is my current view when I come down the stairs from my studio in the attic of the Hemingway Birthplace [...]
25
Nov, 2014
Why a Real Life Story is Never the Whole Story
A drab and wet November morning--perfect for revising at the Royal Coffee House. Monday evening two weeks ago I wrote a story. I wrote it sitting in my car. I plugged [...]
31
Oct, 2014
3rd/4th Graders Visit the Hemingway House
I know it's been all about the Hemingway House here lately, but I'm simply having too much fun with it. This week three 3rd/4th grade classes came to visit, and [...]
27
Oct, 2014
Hemingway Birthplace Home Video Tour
For my students who missed class at the Hemingway House and all my blog readers, here's a little video tour of my writer-in-residence studio in the attic, the attic itself, [...]
24
Oct, 2014
Holding Class at the Hemingway House
My Advanced Memoir Workshop meets in the dining room of the Hemingway Birthplace Home. What a cool occasion to take a group selfie! Yesterday my Advanced Memoir workshop, usually held [...]
30
Sep, 2014
Poking about Hemingway’s Attic
Every time I'm at my writer-in-residence studio at the Hemingway House, I poke about the attic. I feel like it's my foyer, my grand foyer, actually, as it is so [...]
23
Sep, 2014
Blog Post No. 500
My post with a detailed recipe (including step-by-step photos) on how to make Zwetschgendatschi remains one of my most popular posts. Who would have thought? Not me. 500 blog posts! [...]
28
Aug, 2014
Goldilocks at the Hemingway House
My studio in the attic used to be a maid's room but is now furnished by Thomasville of Oakbrook, featuring their safari-style Hemingway Collection of furniture and décor. I have to say I'm [...]
15
Aug, 2014
My First Interview as an Author
It's official: I'm a writer. The cat is out of the bag in my neighborhood. The local newspaper, the Hyde Park Herald, did an author interview with me due to [...]
11
Aug, 2014
Mining your Dreams for Writing (2)
"Thanks to my dreams [and NaNoWriMo], November is one of my favorite and most amusing times," says novelist Shirley Letcher. Following up on last Monday's post, here's installment two of [...]
4
Aug, 2014
Mining your Dreams for Writing (1)
I am happy to welcome my writing friend Shirley Letcher as my guest blogger today. Shirley has been a teacher of music, theater and arts for over forty years, from [...]
25
Jul, 2014
Writer-in-Residence at the Hemingway Foundation
My big news since returning from Tel Aviv: I will be the 2014-15 writer-in-residence at the Hemingway Foundation! This entails having a studio up under the roof of Hemingway's birthplace home [...]
30
Jun, 2014
Glen Finland on the Power of Storytelling
Meeting other formidable writers is one of the great benefits of attending a writers residency. And so, last January, I had the great fortune of meeting Glen Finland during my [...]
23
Jun, 2014
The Power of Practice
While I am off amidst the frenzy and heat of the World Cup in Brazil, I leave you with a post on practice, inspired by Natalie Goldberg's newest book, The [...]
18
Jun, 2014
My Writing Process – A Blog Hop
Writing on the couch I've been tagged by my friend Gillian Marchenko, a former student of mine and author of the memoir Sun Shine Down, to participate in the #MyWritingProcess [...]
11
Jun, 2014
Unveiling: The Chicago List Essay Project
Our Chicago - Eleven Writers on their City - Edited by Annette Gendler | Make Your Own Book I published a book with my students! Our Chicago is a collection of [...]
5
Jun, 2014
A Jewel Box for Ideas
My Morning Pages are really a jewel box for ideas. I realized, in writing this morning, that ideas function with the same abundance principle as the rest of life. If [...]
3
Jun, 2014
Is My Story Dramatic Enough?
Last week my essay "Is My Story Dramatic Enough?" was published in the Washington Independent Review of Books. Its foundation was laid one evening when one of my students stopped [...]
8
Apr, 2014
One Year of Morning Pages
My stack of Morning Pages notebooks tells me that today, 4/8/14, is my one-year anniversary. That means one year of writing every weekday morning, stream of consciousness, by hand, in [...]