I began Day 18 of National Novel Writing Month having a Skype call with my 3.5 year-old granddaughter, Ofelia. She wanted to show Ralph and me two things. First, her substantial collection of bird feathers, which she would be taking for “Show and Tell” to preschool on Monday. The second was what she called, “My… Read More
On Day #19 of National Novel Writing Month, I decided to work on a scene that I knew would probably end up as one of my favorites in my children’s-book-to-be. In this dramatic and game-changing scene, Nettie Rabbit will face humiliation and rejection by her potential buck rabbit suitors. In order for the scene to… Read More
Sometimes, when I think of all that’s stored in my brain, I imagine this intricate organ resembling a keepsake box, filled with personal artifacts; experiences fraught with memories, with no pattern nor order at all. If you were to sit down with me someday, I could explain the significance of each of these seemingly insignificant… Read More
In a post earlier this week I encouraged myself and other writers to “play,” in a more childlike way, in order to break open the imagination. What I have liked to do, ever since I was a child myself, was to play with words. And nothing serves that purpose better than my Webster’s New Universal… Read More
Day #22 of National Novel Writing Month fell on Thanksgiving Day. I went in search of my Eastern cottontail rabbit characters so I could write more of my tale, but they were busy attending a Thanksgiving feast with their rabbit cousins. So, word count was ZERO, but a good time with family and friends was… Read More
In the words of Kermit the Frog, “It’s not easy bein’ green.” How wise that little guy was. But what IS easy is to be green with envy, and this is something I’ve discovered about myself since becoming a “published author.” When you’re an author in this age of rampant social media, it is both… Read More
A key source of inspiration for my work-in-progress came from one of my granddaughter’s most favorite books. Titled MAPS, by Aleksandra Mizielinska and Daniel Mizielinski, this visually enticing “atlas” for children (and adults) enlightened me to the immense numbers and kinds of rabbits all around the world—as well as their sensitivity to habitat and other… Read More
“Climate change threatens more than two-thirds of rabbit species,” according to a study reported by Katie Leach, Queen’s University Belfast; an alarming trend that will affect the world’s 87 species of lagomorphs, a group that includes rabbits, hares, and pikas. Habitat loss, adaptation, relocation, and extinction of these populations will only increase in the years… Read More
With the impact of climate change on rabbits weighing heavily on my mind, I struggled to write at least 1500 words on Day #26 of National Novel Writing Month. Luckily I came upon this handy-dandy pocket-sized book of Monthly Writing Prompts, published by The Loft, as a gift to its members. I found one particular… Read More
So why did it take more than four years after The Secrets of Eastcliff-by-the-Sea was published before I made a serious commitment to writing a story that I’d had in mind for almost all of that time? Many reasons, but it’s only recently that I’ve come to understand one of the main reasons is: during… Read More