Return A lone tree white with blossom Mountains fall toward blue Ridges recede into evening sky Whose sable brush strokes this softly? I count horizons home Soon we’ll be gone The road wet with rain. Bumthang Valley, Bhutan These poems crisscross the Pacific: from an elegy for a forest in Alaska to …
EPISODE SUMMARY In this episode, host Katie Bausler chats with Lucian Childs, author of Dreaming Home, a powerful collection of six linked short stories on the outing of a gay teenager by his younger sister, his father’s violent reaction and how that trauma ripples through the course of four decades. The stories, set in Texas, …
It’s a clear, calm October day in Chugach State Park. I’m climbing a trail that is new to me with my hiking group. It’s steep, but with plenty of switchbacks so I know I can reach the top. Our goal is Little O’Malley Peak and a panoramic view of Campbell Creek, the valley, the city, …
Today, I gave in. I admitted that this simply wasn’t going to be a very productive week for many reasons: Worry about the war in Gaza/Israel. I was good at not reading news first thing in the morning for a while, but now, with the moment of a ground offensive upon us, I keep looking …
An awesome Autumn tumbles on auspiciously in Seward. I am on the verge of climbing back into a novel. Nesting up the desk. Preparing to start most days there. Begin whittling away. I’m thinking about how we play the seasons up here. And the day-to-day. Flat water – go kayaking. Clear skies – backcountry multi-peak …
Next month, I’ll be teaching a 49 Writers course about suspense as an element of all compelling writing. But in that course—and in this post—I won’t be excluding the suspense genre altogether. Truth is, many of us are intrigued by the notion of dabbling in this commercially successful category of fiction. Is it just because …
Why We Write Suspense (Louisa May Alcott Did. Whaaat?) Read More »
“You always say the brutal truth,” my nine-year-old said the other day. “You really should try to do more ‘white lying’.” Here’s the thing: I’m a writer. Here’s the thing about being a writer: We can. Not. Lie. Well, maybe some writers can, but I can’t. Writers are supposed to be honest. Ernest Hemingway said, …
When Writing Honestly Makes You a Bad Wife and Mother by Summer Koester Read More »
In my last blogpost, I touched on the inevitability of doubt in the creative process. It’s such an important issue, I thought I’d speak about strategies I’ve found for profiting from it. Getting in your own way In fiction, the first thing we do is give our characters obstacles. Both external and internal. The external …
Getting Off the Couch and Embracing Doubt by Lucian Childs Read More »
“On the path ahead, stepping out from behind a boulder, a man appears.” So begins Maggie O’Farrell’s I Am, I Am, I Am. In the next two sentences, we get some precise description, enough to start creating a world and convince us to inhabit it. And then, we get a look at the man again. …
Suspense, Regardless of Genre: Tips for Reading and Writing by Andromeda Romano-Lax Read More »
Live from Storyknife: August 2023 Recorded Tuesday, August 23, 2023 | 7-8pm via Zoom Leah Altman (Oglala Lakota) is a Native American transracial adoptee and was raised in the Portland area. She has written for several local and national publications, including Indian Country Today, Underscore, The Oregonian, Portland Monthly, Oregon Humanities, Portland State University’s Metroscape magazine, and Parents.com. Leah has an MFA in creative …
