Evening, the competing crickets sing in the yard. I’m waiting for husband to come home. Reading, but not with full attention, listening for the opening of the door and the whirr of the gears as he wheels his bicycle into the workshop. Should have left the light on. But … Continue reading →
Category Archives: Blog
Bad Dog
I’m on call for jury service this week, and I’m willing; I’ve always been willing. After all, isn’t this service one of the most important things a citizen can give, other than vote? Haven’t I been telling our kid and the other kids I tutor for years that this is part of a citizen’s right … Continue reading →
Posted in: Blog, education, social and anti
Two novels and an invitation
I’m honored to have you read my blog, delighted and impressed by how many people the ‘Fresh-Pressed’ award brought me. But, looking at this page, I realized I could talk a bit about my two novels, both published by small presses (Imajin Books and Eternal Press) in the past year. I grew up in … Continue reading →
Posted in: Blog, history, publishing, writing
glorious food
I sit here at the computer patting my warm sleek black cat who purrs as though it all means something. But cat, I’m procrastinating. There are soaked kidney beans to be boiled then baked this afternoon in slathers of molasses, packed with sweet onions and mixed with mustard. There are chicken thighs to … Continue reading →
First Book Panel
This was a discussion panel at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference — I’m here in purple answering our wonderful moderator Lorelei Armstrong, author of In the Face. SBWC: First Book Panel from Ninety Degrees Media on Vimeo.
Posted in: Blog, publishing, writing
paintings from the winter
Oak Over Modoc is a small painting about five inches by ten. The tree exploded into brilliance when the late sun hit the branches. Behind it the slope drops off into a tangle of shrubbery, and below that lies a wetland that the Chumash Indians used to frequent and plant with medicinal herbs. Here’s … Continue reading →
a string of harps
a string of harps I’ve stepped back from painting these past few days to plunge into the next novel’s rewrite. But the change forces me to wonder, what happens in writing that doesn’t in painting? I know I serve both arts because neither one has all that I need. Am I … Continue reading →
sun struck
I ‘ve been silent longer than intended and here’s why. I’ve been off these past few weekends teaching landscape painting. En plein air has been much misunderstood – in my book it is one of many ways to face the process of painting, not the one holy path to truth. But en plein air … Continue reading →
