Category: Writing/Revision

  • Lovely present becomes lovely help

    One of my most favorite books in childhood was Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present (Charlotte Zolotow, illus. Maurice Sendak), in which Mr. Rabbit helps the little girl assemble a birthday gift for her mother. One of the book’s refrains (the story is structured around nested repetitions with variation) has been coming back to me lately…

  • Frozen

    After it snowed and before it really started raining this morning, I went for a walk. More of a crunch-tromp-glide-stumble-crunch; the ice crust on the snow was brittle, and the snow was deep. Here where it isn’t supposed to snow–or not snow much–we are frozen on the verge of spring. The ice is clarifying, isolating,…

  • Words of the Day

    Looking for some background on the bandoneon (more on that in a week or two) I came across the word bandoline: “a mucilaginous preparation made from quince seeds and used for smoothing, glossing, or waving the hair.” (Random House Dictionary of the English Language). Yes, it was that mucilaginous that pulled me in to read the full definition.…

  • Studio Date (a thank you note)

    My friend Sarah invited me to her studio the other day. I won’t describe the paintings (or, not quite); that’s for her to do. But I will describe the conversation. She’s working on reflections now, on remembered water (among other things). She talked about the importance of noticing, in all of her work. Her tools…

  • In the spirit of detours and mystery fiction and taking on a new voice….

    I’ve written a novel that includes segments of mystery novels by one J. Wisdome, pseudonymous author of the Sgt. String series. Now I’m writing another novel, this one made up of more of J. Wisdome’s stories (those that didn’t quite make it into the first book, mainly because I hadn’t written them yet). Or maybe…

  • Writing on a dare (bigger than a breadbox)

    I don’t usually post the results of writing exercises–I don’t usually make the time to sit down and wrestle with a prompt, though I come across plenty and they’re often tempting.  But the incorrigible Linda Epstein threw out a challenge–a challenge bigger than a breadbox, if you will–and rather than bruise my shins trying to dodge…

  • Translation Notes with Necessary Fiction

    Regular readers of this (irregular) blog know I spend a good deal of my time thinking and writing and reading about translation. Today the web journal Necessary Fiction featured my contribution to their “Translation Notes” series, “Empurpled and Bedamasked: Reading through Trafalgar.”  I’ve been enjoying the series since it began– very pleased to be in…

  • Open Space

    A colleague, now several years retired, recently cleared out the office he had occupied for more than twenty years. It’s lighter now, without the file cabinets, the bookcases lined up two deep against the walls. Just a couple of old computers, an older desk, a fan. I miss seeing him day to day on campus–we…

  • Lily Pad

    For eight years now, we’ve been taking the same hike on my birthday. Some years we’ve pushed the calendar a little, but most years, it’s been on the day itself. And it doesn’t get old–not for me, anyway. Much as I love to take new hikes, this one, I could do over and over. As…

  • Fictional Falls

    Stories happen, or they’re found, or they’re built. Harvested, gathered, collected, constructed. Sometimes there’s an alchemy of memory and conversation.   I wrote about waterfall words–in English and Spanish–in one of my earlier blog post, Iguazú Words. I was preparing for a trip to Argentina, thinking like a tourist (what are my must-sees?) and a…