Memoirs of Teen Writing Camp
There’s something magical and heart-warming about teens who choose to set aside a week of their summer break to craft their daydreams and ideas into captivating stories. I had so much fun teaching at the filled-to-capacity Teen Creative Writing Summer Camp last year, I couldn’t wait to do it again this year. The Teen Creative Writing Summer Camp […]
Getting Started in Writing – Class visit testimonial
I’d like to say a special thank you to all the writers who attended the Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network (BARN) inaugural “4th Thursday Roundtable.” We had a full house with every stripe of writer, from novelists to picture book writers, playwrights to poets. Thank you all for a wonderful evening! Author Anne Clermont and I spoke on the topic of Getting Started in […]
My horror story was voted Best of Wordhaus!
OK, my mind is blown. THANK YOU for voting for my short story, Like Father, Like Son, to WIN The Best of Wordhaus 2015! Writing Horror was one of the craziest challenges I faced in 2015 was–a complete departure for me. I am so thrilled and honored to have my story selected Best of Wordhaus in the Thriller/Horror category. My story now […]
Cara Lopez Lee’s Thoughtful Rules for Compassionate Critiques
Note: I love when readers tell me WHAT they think they just read. Often what we are trying to imply in a scene comes across differently to different people, and this technique helps me gauge whether I’ve nailed it–or not.
Like Father, Like Son – A Short Story (Horror)
I was challenged to write a horror story a month ago, about the things that sadden, disgust, and disturb me. I don’t write horror. It may sound silly, but I hold to the belief that what we think about makes up who we are. I don’t want to ponder the things that break my heart, […]
Is a Writer’s Retreat for you?
When was the last time you walked through a meadow? Not a cut-lawn city park expanse, or your own back yard just before mowing, but an honest-to-goodness meadow? Last weekend I attended an intimate writer’s retreat at Prue’s House at Hilltop Park on Bainbridge Island, WA, led by author Margaret Nevinski. The drive up wound […]
Clothes The Door: a Short Story
And I can’t begin to fathom the breadth of income necessary to earn the audacity of designating oneself a philosopher in this century, but I’m pretty sure we aren’t shopping in the same stores.
POV shift: I moved to an island.
A month ago, my family moved from Orange County’s endless summer to a small(ish) island off the coast of the Pacific Northwest. It’s the beginning of summer, and the weather has been sunny and warm, so climate-wise, not much of a shift. But that’s only the climate. Every other aspect of our lives has changed; (one […]
Write your book title in 10 minutes
We know better than to judge a book by its cover, but a title is our first reader hook. A great story with a ho-hum title may be overlooked and left unread.
New Holiday Tradition – Free Printable Christmas Mini Scrolls, an Advent Calendar twist
I collected a series of free short stories from the web, and created a document so that I could cut out each “mini scroll,” marked with the day it is to be read, and roll it and tie it with a ribbon. Each day they’ll receive a new part of a story, until they finish with a little book
