Today I will complete the major revisions of the novel. The big reveal scares me, especially since I’m not sure yet how big the finish will be. I don’t like forced excitement in a book. Like gratuitous sex, a drum roll on the last two pages might be a little too artsy. But I’ll know…

  1. If a writer does not have a spouse to fix dinner, a hospitable sister will do just fine. Especially if she cooks from scratch. 2. Do not think you can make do with a computer that has no printer and a keyboard made for Tinkerbell. Unless you have a daughter who will FedEx…

Often I see advice to writers that we should review books in order to build our “platform”–what used to be called a reputation or image. I used to review poetry books and a couple of times here on the blog I’ve done what might be called reviews, loosely. While I was berating myself in my…

Last week I wrote about the enisling that often creates the central structure of a novel. (And I think I misspelled it..) This enclosure results in a driving force within the story–the arrival of The Other, the stranger, the prodigal, the visitor, or in Maine, Summer People. During my teens I lived on the shore of…

On Wednesday I joined three friends for a sunset cruise of Casco Bay. The bay has well over a hundred islands, some habitable, some desolate, all lush and attractive. We speculated on the homes we could see and wondered how long human beings have used these coastal islands as a refuge. Then we were back…