Part 1 of 3 My favorite book is the one I’m writing, or even better, the one I plan to write after that. There is nothing more artfully conceived and less commercially sullied than the book that has existed only in one’s mind. Given that I prefer to dwell on my future books, you might […]
We originally published this post on March 7, 2012 It’s about 11 am, and I already have several things to forgive myself for. I intended to get cracking on a novel revision by 9 am. (First draft completed on Dec 31, and two months later, I still haven’t finished even the first round of editing
Andromeda Romano-Lax | Forgiveness, redux Read More »
The wonderful new web design here at 49 Writers prompted me to wonder what Deb and I were blogging about way back when it started, to see whether thoughts from 2008 still ring true today. As it happens, one of my first dips into the memory pool took me to a post during dividend time
Andromeda Romano-Lax | Investing In Yourself as a Writer Read More »
This blogpost is an updated version of a post that originally ran in 2010. With time to kill at various airport newstands this week, my eye was drawn to the current Economist lead story about what they’ve tagged “the U-bend of happiness” — the fact, noticed by economists only since the 1990s, that happiness drops around middle age and
Andromeda: The U-Bend of Happiness for Writers Read More »
How and why do we tell the stories of our lives? I am currently visiting my mother who is dying from brain cancer, and who is now reduced to short sentences, not all of them coherent. Life is pretty simple now: eating, watching t.v. including news of the latest San Bernardino shooting and the terrorist
Andromeda: Illness, Terrorism, and Telling Stories Read More »
I’ve been living a life in Spanish for the last year, and that includes most of my reading. The last book I finished was Isabel Allende’s fascinating, well-structured, and ultimately heart-rending Paula, which wove the tragic story of her comatose adult daughter’s slow deterioration with Allende’s own life story in politically volatile Chile, as well
Andromeda/Alaska Writer on the Road: 4.9 Lessons from Isabel Allende Read More »
I’ll admit that I never really nailed all of the grammar rules until I became a high school English teacher. I firmly believe that the best way to learn something deeply is to teach it to someone else. Good teachers spend time considering their subject from all angles, pulling it apart, and putting it back
Those Who Can, Teach Read More »
Note: Andromeda will be teaching two online classes coming up soon: SCENE, SUMMARY, AND TIME with Andromeda Romano-Lax October 12 to November 1 9+ hours over 3 Weeks Online. No scheduled meetings, asynchronous instruction FIRST PERSON COMPLICATED–THE DUAL-VOICED NARRATOR with Andromeda Romano-Lax November 2 to November 22 9+ hours over 3 Weeks Online. No scheduled meetings, asynchronous
Andromeda in San Juanico, Mexico When I asked Manuel for a surfing lesson, he made this suggestion: Go today, take the boards, don’t try to stand up, just catch the waves on your belly, get a feel for the ocean, and then I’ll see you tomorrow. I wasn’t a total beginner. I’d surfed three times
Andromeda: A Writer in the Waves–Lessons from Surfing Read More »
“Knowing what scenes are required in a novel is at the heart of the fictional art. The author has to write the obligatory scenes so that nothing of importance happens offstage. She must write the pivotal scenes and make quick expository moves from scene to scene. We can’t have three paragraphs to get the character
Andromeda: Making A Scene Read More »
