Sara Ryan

So as I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I’ve been watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, to the relief of many among my friends and acquaintances. A chorus of folks has been telling me for years that my Buffy illiteracy represented both a gaping lack in pop subcultural knowledge and a bunch of fun out on which I was [...]

Head on over to Chasing Ray for the latest What A Girl Wants post, “On the eternally infamous bad girl.”
And as usual, I’m pairing a link to the latest post with a repost of one of my responses to an earlier post in the series. This one was my answer to Colleen’s question about book [...]

[A character is in the midst of attempting to describe a church spire that he sees outside his window every day.]
Terms swarm up to tempt me in the course of this description: Greek Orthodox, Romanesque, flying buttress, etc. These guessing words I find junked into my brain in deranged juxtaposition, like files randomly stuffed into [...]

There are authors out there — I know, I’ve read their blogs — for whom writing, most of the time, is a giggly delight. Inventing richly-detailed, sparkly worlds full of fascinating characters and thrilling events! Writing considered as Getting Away With Something! Gosh, I just can’t believe I get to do this! HEY, KIDS, LET’S [...]

I was contemplating posting the latest variation on the post I always post, which is, of course, something about OMG The Very Serious And Challenging Challenges Of Balancing LibrarianLand and WriterWorld.
And then I thought, geez, speshul snowflake much? What, you have more than a single role in your life? Amazing! So does basically everyone else [...]

Still catching up from Boston, black nail polish now very chipped. Have been brooding about tragedies of various scales, also tempests and their associated teapots. Feeling more inclined to shut up than put up, this fragmentary post notwithstanding.
But here are three good things, as a counterweight:

Tales of the Madman Underground, which I read on the [...]

I decided it was about time I tried out black nail polish, as I have gone this far in my life without the experience.

Yes, I am going to Boston for the American Library Association Midwinter meeting. Very early in the morning tomorrow. I’ll be in YALSA meetings most of the time while I’m there, but [...]

Happy 2010, Internet friends.
Here’s something I wrote in my journal ten years ago:
I read a book of Susan Cooper’s essays on writing for children; a book I’m going to have to buy. In thinking about the themes that come up over and over again in the way she talks about writing, I’m wondering what my [...]

In case you were wondering:
If you have made an assay at banana frosting, but have managed to use a disproportionate amount of bananas and butter in relation to the amount of powdered sugar in the house, resulting in a texture not remotely similar to frosting, if you:
Add flour, baking soda, and spices of your choice, [...]

In lieu of a substantial, thought-provoking post, perhaps reflecting on the year, I present THE SPACE DOG, created when I was in second grade, interspersed with the sort of comments that might be offered by a severe critique partner.

Is this about Laika? If not, title should be changed. And do you want your readers [...]