• writing

    In Recognition of the Saints Who Live With Writers

    When I was a kid in Catholic school, November 1 meant dressing up as a saint and parading down the aisle of our parish church. A lot of the costumes involved plastic, medieval weaponry. At least one girl always dressed up as Joan of Arc, complete with sword and shield. There were a lot of angel wings and halos, too. I no longer go to church on All Saints Day, or much at all. As an author, November 1 now has a very different meaning. November 1 kicks off  NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), when writers all over the world commit to a writing marathon of sorts, where they vow to write…

  • fiction,  reviews,  writing

    Putting Deadlines on Dreams

    November is almost over which, for me, brings the end of a frenzied month of writing. I signed up with several writer friends for NaNoWriMo, which means we each committed to write 50,000 words in 30 days. Some of us (like me) started with a work in progress. Some started new novels and some wrote nonfiction. What we have in common, though, is that all of us tapped into the positive peer pressure of making a public commitment–much like people do when they train for a marathon. I don’t run marathons; I write them. Novelist, screenwriter, and memoirist Dave Eggers sent an email today to all NaNoWriMo participants. I found…