From the monthly archives: September 2011

College on the Colorado plains

By On September 25, 2011 · 11 Comments

I went to college in the same town I lived and went to high school: The University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. My parents had no money for college so it was all grants, loans and a couple of small scholarships. I had been accepted to a couple of other universities  but there was not [...]

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Remembering my (not so idyllic) college years….

By On September 24, 2011 · 4 Comments

“Such, then, was the state of my imaginative life; over against it stood the life of my intellect. The two hemispheres of my mind were in the sharpest contrast. On the one side a many-islanded sea of poetry and myth; on the other a glib and shallow ‘rationalism.’ Nearly all that I loved [...]

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Strange comparison: Two books about writers telling truth to power

By On September 21, 2011 · 7 Comments

In my previous post I talked about how books work in my life as guides along the past, pointing in me in the direction I need to go, inspiring me with the insight I need at the exact time I read them. The consensus among my commenting readers indicates that many of us [...]

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Books: My breadcrumbs through the forest

By On September 18, 2011 · 17 Comments

I choose books like I make most of my life’s decisions: I know my general direction and have a loose framework of boundaries. I choose actions and words that fit within my framework and that I hope will move me forward rather than backward.  To me, forward means [...]

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Balancing writing with your day job

By On September 17, 2011 · 23 Comments

Last Saturday I wrote about obstacles I run into when I try to write fiction. The response from my readers truly touched me: so many useful and inspiring ideas on how I might proceed with creating a story for my character. I have read all of these suggestions carefully and [...]

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Find a different angle

Overcoming obstacles to writing fiction

By On September 10, 2011 · 12 Comments

In my last post I listed a bunch of books on writing that I have found useful over the past three years. Many of these books are about writing fiction. I love reading about writing fiction, I am fascinated by the idea and possibilities of writing fiction, but I have not had a [...]

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My very first blog award and my picks for next winners of the Liebster Blog Award

By On September 8, 2011 · 8 Comments

I’d like to thank Elizabeth Young of The Garden Gate  for awarding me my very first blog award. The Liebster Blog award originated in Germany and means “beloved.” It is given to quality blogs with fewer than 200 followers. I am so honored.

The Garden Gate is an amazing blog that consistently features entertaining [...]

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Eighteen books that have lit a fire under my writing life (& four more in the queue)

By On September 5, 2011 · 12 Comments

I have been writing since childhood and, as many of my readers know, have worked as a technical writer for longer than I like to admit. One day about three years ago I looked the large bookshelf in my bedroom and saw that a significant portion of one long shelf was taken up [...]

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Where have all the coloring books gone?

By On September 1, 2011 · 14 Comments

Sketch I did of JT when he was about 4

My son always hated coloring books. JT was not merely uninterested in coloring books and it wasn’t a mild aversion; he hated coloring books. He said so the first time we tried to give him one. Coloring books were [...]

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