Parenting brings challenges to the writing life, but it also brings great insight.

 

http://marcycampbell.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-ghostly-story-comes-back-to-haunt-me.html…

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Well, it's happened. I've finally been caught writing about people I know in a

non-fictional way, and now I'm hiding in my closet in case anyone's mad at me. I

was sitting around a few weeks ago, compiling the 2013 recommendations for my

book club when I had an essay idea. Two days later (record time for me), I was

sending the finished piece out. It was quickly accepted at…

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For the past year, I’ve been rewriting my debut novel, “Come As You Are.” And I do mean re-writing. I had completed many surface revisions in the years prior, had pursued agents thinking that, the next one I contacted would be the one, all the while pushing down the nagging thought that my book might not be good enough. Take a look at my…

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I surprised myself last weekend. I met someone new who asked what I did, and I said, with no hesitation, "I'm a writer." She said "Wow!" and our conversation continued down other paths. Normally, there would be follow-up questions, such as: "Who do you write for? What do you write? Might I have read any of it? What kind of money do you make?" Maybe it was the immediacy and self-assured tone of my answer, "I'm a writer," that cut off these questions before they began. I kind of doubt it. I think… Continue

I've recently taken over as secretary of my book club and am in the process of gathering recommendations for our 2011 reading list.  We'll have a meeting soon to vote on our picks, but the list will be small this year, only five books.  We'll supplement with interesting articles from the New Yorker, Atlantic, etc. for another five meeetings.  Two meetings will be purely social, one of which includes our families. The other involves lots of cookies and wine. (Who am I kidding? They all involve… Continue

We all had fun watching Christine O’Donnell’s failed bid for the Senate. I particularly enjoyed her comments on evolution stated during one of her appearances on Bill Maher’s show. She wanted to know why we aren’t seeing monkeys evolving today. Maher makes the observation that she really thinks evolution is something we can observe happening right before our eyes. It made me think of one of those flip books I had as a kid. Turn the pages, and something morphs into something else.



In… Continue

So I’m still thinking about Yellow Springs (see my previous post), specifically about the town’s appreciation of the arts. Many writers, painters, sculptors, belly dancers, you name it, make their home there. That got me thinking about the general public’s perception of how “artists” are supposed to look and act. Do a man-on-the-street interview asking someone to describe artists, and I’ll bet you’ll hear variations of these attributes: dreamy, impractical, prone to dressing in wild clothes (or… Continue

What an enjoyable time I’ve had in Yellow Springs, Ohio, the highlight of which was meeting “the agent I’ve been working with,” hopefully soon to be called simply “my agent,” Janet Reid. She is as warm and funny in person as she is on the blogosphere, and it was wonderful to talk with her about publishing in general and about my novel in particular, which will soon be undergoing its last round of edits before being submitted to publishers.



Aside from that very important meeting, I… Continue

I've horribly neglected my blog. You see, I've been moving our little family of four to new digs, then promptly vacationing for two weeks only to return to a toppling pyramid of unpacked boxes around every corner. But, at last, here I am in my new office space. Already, this house feels like home. It's a beautiful brick colonial from the 20s with all the built-in nooks and crannies that I love. But it's the neighborhood that's really won us over, a bit Mayberry-esque, this tree-lined, brick… Continue

We're all taught at a young age that stereotypes are bad, bad things, but as we get older, we realize that stereotypes often begin with a grain of truth. I know, rationally, that not all shade-loving, three-lobed plants will give me a horrible rash, but I sometimes have trouble recognizing the one that will, so it's easier to just avoid all of them.



So, let's say you want to avoid contact with writers. How do you spot one? Ask people to describe the average "creative writer," and… Continue

My second least favorite question: what are you working on these days? (Least favorite is, and always will be, "What's your book about?") The short answer to "What are you working on?" is "A novel." This then leads to the least favorite question, which leads to my anxious face, nervous laugh, and stammering reply that tells them nothing at all about the book. But, back to the second book, the one I'm "working" on now. I feel the need to dissect my habits for those who think "working" actually… Continue

You know you're not supposed to call up your ex while drunk. You know you're not supposed to send that email telling your boss to f-off. Keep those obscene thoughts in your journal, preferably under lock and key. Don't expose them to the light of day! You don't want people to think you're crazy, or weird, or just plain un-likable (shudder). Now, every Midwestern gal wants to be "liked." I should know; I took AP classes in just that topic in high school.



I've moved around a bit, but… Continue