by Minerva Rising Contributor | Jun 20, 2014 | Blog, The Keeping Room
I teach memoir, but I mostly write poetry. This works well because of the inherent prose lessons in poetry concerning concision, sound, voice, facts and even plot. Concision & Precision: Poetry is usually* more concise than prose. (*Of course there are prose poems...
by Minerva Rising Contributor | Jun 13, 2014 | Blog, The Keeping Room
One day, summers ago, I saw my physical duplicate crossing a quiet side street in small town Michigan. A visit “home,” I was driving somewhere to somewhere else, a nondescript errand in a place often defined by them, I stopped at an unnecessary stoplight,...
by Minerva Rising Contributor | Jun 6, 2014 | Blog, The Keeping Room
This weekend I am on the North Carolina coast with women who attended the last Women’s Creative Writing and Yoga Retreat in Oaxaca, Mexico. We look east over the Atlantic Ocean, hear the lull of waves, write, share meals, tell life stories, sip good Oaxaca mezcal,...
by Minerva Rising Contributor | May 30, 2014 | Blog, The Keeping Room
There are those days when my best-laid writing plans get lost among the myriad needs of my household, my family of four, my scattered mind. On a day or a series of days like that, I find it nearly inevitable that I end the night with a berate of myself: “You need to...
by Minerva Rising Contributor | May 16, 2014 | Blog, The Keeping Room
People keep asking me: “Are you still writing?” My answer is not always enthusiastic, “yes,” but I wish it were. I have less time and most of my energy is reserved for my child. With some help from friends, I’m trying to accept the times I’m not writing. Time is...
by Minerva Rising Contributor | May 9, 2014 | Blog, The Keeping Room
The phone rings, my mother. The cancer has returned, stage four. My cellphone vibrates, a text from my sister. Have you talked to mom? After two lengthy and direct conversations, I convince my mom to consider other treatment facilities. Three days later she agrees. I...
