Janus, the ancient Roman god of beginnings and endings, thresholds, doorways and gates, is most often depicted as a two-faced guy because he is looking to the future and the past simultaneously. With those thresholds, gateways and passages in mind, take a moment in the present to listen to Mac Barnett’s delightful, funny and provocative TED talk. You might just get a whale of an idea!
Author: Sarah Lovett
Always End With a Smile~and Other Writing Lessons from Puppy Class
Last week my daughter and I and our 10-month old recently rescued puppy, Jazz, all graduated from ‘Puppy Basics’. Jazz, who is 13.5 pounds of clever terrier-plus-guess-what, and my daughter, who is wise and a few days shy of her 11th birthday, breezed through the lessons: relax, sit, stay, off, down, lineup, come, and leave it. I did fine, too, as I am fascinated by animal behavior and what it teaches us about ourselves and others. At the end of the class, as is her custom, our instructor Judy reminded us to generously praise our dogs and ourselves because the …
COACHING QUESTIONS TO KEEP YOU ON COURSE
When I was nineteen I started a business with a partner and we called it “Hat Trick Hats”. We wanted to be portable. We sold our hand-stitched leather creations on the sidewalks of Santa Barbara and on the Wharf and Union Square in San Francisco. We wanted to be free to make our own designs and decisions and we accomplished both. We needed to make a living and sometimes we actually ended the month with a financial surplus! Of course that money was quickly spent to replenish our supplies to make more hats. Our goal was never to get rich—and …
My January 2014 post for Algonquin Redux on “How Dilemma is Vital for Storytellers”
I was recently invited to join the Algonquin Redux writers roundtable. This is a terrific site for writers and readers. I will be posting a new essay on the 9th of each month. I’m sharing the link and also encouraging you to browse the archives to find a variety of brief essays by amazing authors. Sharing my Jan 2014 post now on Algonquin Redux
Solstice Sky After Snow
Dare to dream, write, share…
Don’t Fear the Silence and the Stillness…
“Life stand still here.” Virginia WoolfWriters: Don’t fear the silence and the stillness because, beneath it, there is fuel to light the fire for so many stories.
Some Days It’s Good to Curl Up Creatively…
Snow outside, deadlines looming, taking a tip from Moseley Kitty: Curl up until you feel snug.
PARITY: The Other Cat in the Room
It’s Sunday and I’m finishing up two scenes for today’s writing quota. Both these scenes center around two characters. Both scenes share the same viewpoint character. And I will rely on parity to make sure both scenes come to life. In very simple terms for writers of fiction, “parity” means knowing your non-viewpoint character’s desire(s) and goal(s) within the scene as well as you know those of your viewpoint character. If you feel a scene going dead, try parity. Work the scene through the non-viewpoint character’s eyes. Let the non-VP character drive the scene. Your protagonist is only as strong …
Writers: Pull Up from the Page for the High View and other De-stressing Tips
I’m on deadline for Penguin/Blue Rider Press and the book is due in less than three months. Do I feel the stress? Sure. Even after six previous novels published by the majors? Oh yeah. But there are four things I’ve learned over my years as a pro writer that instantly help to drop my stress meter by notches: 1) Take ten deep breaths. That’s inhale, and, yes, exhale, too. Honestly, it sounds too reasonable and basic to mention, but when I’m stressing out, I am not breathing. Not smart. Oxygen helps everything. 2) Slow down to speed up. It’s not …
BLOWBACK — October 1, 2013 – Official Launch Date!
Today is the day BLOWBACK–a Vanessa Pierson Novel by Valerie Plame and Sarah Lovett–officially becomes available! We are celebrating this amazing creative collaboration.