Sara Ryan

It’s one of the first questions in my FAQ because it really is asked frequently: some variation on “Did the story in Empress of the World happen to you?” My answer: No. If it had, it would be an autobiography, not a novel. But it was certainly inspired by people and events from my life. [...]

On the Internet you can read about people who write and do cool things. Also sometimes you can listen to them or look at pictures of things they make. Did you know that you can get hold of L.M. Montgomery’s journals? Thanks for the tip, livygrrrl! And because now I know there are a lot [...]

“I really need to get a better camera,” I said. Jay dissented: “Cell phone photos are the new Polaroids.” Ever since, I’ve been trying to rejoice in my camera’s limitations, rather than lamenting them. I don’t know what kind of tree this is, but they are all over town. At the Springwater Grill. I like [...]

Don’t get me wrong. I’m a longtime fan of the Anne of Green Gables series, too. (Click the link for Gwenda Bond‘s excellent recent NPR piece about the Anne books.) But not as many people ever seemed to know about the Emily books, and that automatically made them more appealing to me. That, and the [...]

Perhaps he’s trying to hide from the heat?

It’s just that I experienced both extremes of Attitudes Toward Cyclists during the same ride: Take One: After work, I’m part of a large bicycle flock occupying the majority of N. Vancouver Avenue. As we approach the corner of Vancouver and Mississippi, two pedestrians start cheering. “WOOOOO!! No fossil fuels, all RIGHT!” Take Two: Intersection [...]

That crud I had, summer cold 2.0., I was already recovering. But thirteen miles worth of biking today really made me feel better. I can feel myself turning into yet another one of Portland’s bicycle evangelists, a gleam in my eye, chainring heart sticker on my messenger bag, one pant leg forever rolled up. I [...]

At the writers’ retreat I recently attended, one of our conversations was about career planning. It made me think about the risks I take as a writer, and the risks I’ve so far avoided. Every risk comes with benefits. Every risk avoided means that the benefits of taking it are absent, too. For instance: Because [...]

I’m hoping others will post more photos with people in them. Me, I concentrated on the flora & fauna. Flora. Flora. Flora. Fauna. This is the only gecko photo that came out more or less decently, but rest assured, there were many other geckos not captured by my cameraphone. P.S. to those of you who [...]