writing

done!

By Kate / September 28, 2010 /

I have been in a tizzy these last days, thinking about and managing logistics for the upcoming Mother Words reading (Oct. 7 at the Loft—don’t forget!) and I’ve also been writing writing writing away, trying to finish the memoir. Well. I just typed the last sentence with tears in my eyes, and then I turned…

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structure, structure, structure

By Kate / September 7, 2010 /

Okay, so I’ve been avoiding posting about the memoir and the deadline because, well, the deadline passed and the memoir still isn’t finished. There were some distractions in August, some of them lovely (my 20th high school reunion, which brought a few of my closest friends into town) and some of them not as enjoyable…

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a proposal, a platform, and what to do if you don’t have them

By Kate / August 12, 2010 /

The thing I love most about blogging is connecting with other readers and writers (and mothers and friends). I recently “met” Lisa Groen Braner, who wrote The Mother’s Book of Well-Being and has a lovely essay in the latest issue of Brevity. Lisa is also a writing coach who helps nonfiction authors polish their book…

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deadline, oh beautiful deadline

By Kate / August 9, 2010 /

It’s been a whirlwind around here. D has been rebuilding our garage with his dad and brother, transforming it from a run-down shed (what a neighbor boy accurately called it once) into a real garage with electricity and a garage door and a ceiling actually high enough for a garage door opener. They have been…

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when the ending isn’t the ending

By Kate / July 23, 2010 /

The whole time I’ve been rewriting Ready for Air, I assumed it would end the same way my first draft ended. I mean, there is a whole narrative thread that leads to—no, demands—this particular ending to my story. There was a problem, though. I’ve had several readers—one of them an editor who wanted the book…

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automatic

By Kate / July 8, 2010 /

Years ago, when I was just starting to write seriously—probably the first year of my MFA program—I remember saying to a friend that writing helped me slow down. “How so?” she asked. “Well, instead of inhaling a bowl of strawberries, I have to stop and think about how I would describe the taste and the…

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june storms and revision

By Kate / June 28, 2010 /

We’ve had lots of stormy weather in the last few weeks. My sleep has been interrupted with flashes of lightening, cracking thunder, and rain slapping against the windows. The days have been heavy, the air dense and oppressive. Is it the weather that puts me into a funk? Or all the freelance work I’ve been…

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plot, narrative urgency, and children’s lit

By Kate / June 17, 2010 /

The other day Stella went to the library with my mom and she came home with The Boxcar Children. When she pulled it out of the library bag, I started to squeal, “Oh that was one of my favorite books growing up. I can’t wait to read it to you!” I could tell she was…

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ignoring the signs

By Kate / May 24, 2010 /

I’m at the coffee shop (my “office”) for the first time in a couple of weeks, and it feels good to be back. Most of the creative work I’ve done over the last seven years has been done here, sitting at one of these red tables. I hadn’t been consciously staying away. I seemed to…

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sunshine, running and rejection

By Kate / May 15, 2010 /

I spent last week checking things off my to-do list. The days were rainy and cold, so I put my head down and tried to work as much as possible. It wasn’t creative work, but it needed to be done. This kind of productivity usually buoys me, but the weather and the disappointments inherent in…

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