At my coffeeshop of choice, I’m always compelled to rearrange the figurines. Last five books I’ve read: House of Rumour Life Begins At Incorporation A + E 4ever Silhouette of a Sparrow Why Don’t You…? Diana Vreeland: the Bazaar … Keep reading

If you’re anywhere near Portland, please join me and many other friends of Bridget Zinn for a launch event for POISON at A Children’s Place Bookstore, 6 PM Saturday March 16th.

It is kind of springlike around these parts. I returned from elsewhere, also known as Salt Lake City, where I was fortunate enough to enjoy the hospitality of Ms. Sara Zarr. We recorded an episode of her This Creative Life … Keep reading

I am elsewhere for the next little while. Elsewhere has dramatic vistas. But mostly instead of appreciating the vistas I am looking at this very screen, with the Internet off. And, you know, typing words in my Scrivener window.

I’d been hearing praise for Avatar: the last Airbender (link is to the show’s Wikipedia entry, so if you’re new to the show, ‘ware spoilers) for a long time before I finally started watching. Once I did, I couldn’t stop. As with … Keep reading

You run your railroad. My mom has told me this, regularly, since I began the (never-finished) process of growing up. Apparently it was a phrase her dad said to her a lot, too. What does it mean? Nobody else should … Keep reading

1. Sometimes you only discover you’re overextending yourself by snapping. 2. However, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stretch; quite the opposite.

1. If something in your car is intermittently making a shrieking sound it is a good idea to get it looked at because it may indicate for instance that you only have five percent functionality in your front brakes. 2. … Keep reading

Years ago at Thanksgiving I invented the Rockwell Deviance Quotient, intended to measure how far off your celebrations fall from the heartwarming variety depicted in his work. I wrote about it then in a slightly jokey tone, and have referenced … Keep reading

Hey Portland area friends, you around 11/8? Are identity and sexuality in YA literature relevant to your interests? Then come to Beyond Judy Blume: an interactive community forum about identity and sexuality in YA literature with an interdisciplinary panel of educators … Keep reading

Scanning my comment spam, I ran across the following: “This really answered my downside.” It’s one of those bot sentences that hovers on the border of nonsensical and profound, and it made me want to figure out what “answering the … Keep reading

If you were to judge strictly by this blog, you might assume that I have been on a nonstop writing marathon since my last entry, now that I have a designated room and everything. This is, alas, not the case. … Keep reading

Today is my first day with a room in which to write. It’s not my first dedicated writing space. But I’ve never had one with a door that shuts, until now. I am not yet in the room as I … Keep reading

Four days in a row, we overslept. It was mysterious; the alarm was set, the radio functioning. This morning, I finally figured out why. The alarm was properly set for 6 AM. The time was set twelve hours off. See, … Keep reading

Lately I’m feeling prone to moody detours. By definition, detours take us out of our way. They prolong our journeys, routing us through places we hadn’t anticipated visiting. When we encounter a detour, work is often in progress to address … Keep reading

I started following Kio Stark’s writing on her blog, Municipal Archive, and loved her novel, Follow Me Down. My capsule description: noir where the antihero and the femme fatale are the same person. She was kind enough to answer some questions below. … Keep reading

Last weekend was supposed to be a getaway, and it was, for a while. But there are some things you can’t get away from. Being in a lovely place when those things once more demand your attention feels like a … Keep reading