Our days become so crammed with activities and preoccupations that it is easy to miss the little things, which seem so insignificant . . . but are they? As a writer, it's important that I stay in the moment as much as possible in order to catch the magic that is there.

One day while sitting reading in a shopping mall, I noticed something moving near the floor to my left. Glancing that way I saw a tiny boy, his face beaming, waving at me. I smiled back and waved at him as he passed me by, stil...
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I wrote this for "The Creatively Green Write at Home Mom" blog, which was published on December 12th. It's an important subject to me, as I remember my novice attempts all too well. Some of them were really awful, but I sent them out anyway with a self-dadressed stamped envelope -- SASE -- attached, & got them back thankfully without comment. It's something all writers have to do at first. I think you'll  enjoy the article, which you'll find by clicking the link or copying it and pasting it i...
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It's often called "writer's block" -- you know, when you're sitting there in front of a blank screen or sheet of paper and your mind is blank ... for days. I call it "when the well runs dry,. because that's the way it feels. I've used too much of the "water" in it, it's dry, and I have to wait until the spring replenishes it before I can write again. It's a wake up call for me to sit back, relax, and let the well replenish, which it always does.

This happens to all writers. I use it to relax, ...
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No, this isn't a travel article, it's about the few months I spent in Mexico City in 1973-74 and how I was captivated by the city. It's also the title of a poem that I wrote for my son Michael back in 1974 that was published in the magazine "Valley Views, in Chagrin Falls, Ohio later that year, about which a friend recently said "You really fell in love with Mexico City, didn't you?" Oh boy, did I ever! I am now in the middle of writing a novel about it, called "The City Has Many Faces". But ...
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The simplest answer is to begin and never stop, because it's in writing that we develop our skills. The problem with many "wannabees" is quitting the minute discouragement arrives, and just like the next hour and the next day, it will arrive.

What's the best way to guard against being defeated by discouragement? Read books by great writers. And read about them. In the early days, I read everything I could lay my hands on about well-known writers and their experience. I bought every single issu...
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Kokopelli has always been one of my favorite images. He celebrates, he dances, he is playful, and he gets me to seeing and exploring things I wouldn't ordinarily see and explore. Whenever I hear his whistle, I've learned to follow it.

This image is from a painting by my good friend Paul Bauck, and I treasure it. Paul was kind enough to gift me with a digital image of it before we left Seattle for Sapporo, Japan a little less than a year ago.



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