Susan Dixon, Author at Susan R. Dixon

A Place for Interesting Things

I used to think, because this is how I was trained—in high school, in college, in grad school, in life—that I had to have a Theme. If I wanted to host a blog/website/discussion/writing space, it had to have a Focus, a Purpose. I had to stick to a topic so readers or potential writers would know what the space was all about, what I was up to, and how they fit in. I wasted a lot of years thinking this way.

Susan Dixon July 14, 2023 1 Comment

… After All These Years

You’d think, after giving it more than 50 years, that we, the Vietnam War Generation, would have managed to make some sense of it. Fifty years worth of education, life experience, technical skill, hobbies, travel, social engagement—all those things that add value to lives and dimension to brains—would have given us some distance, some ability to put our experience into the context of world history and allow us to say something insightful. Wise, even. At the very least, not a cliché.

Susan Dixon June 26, 2023 3 Comments

A scene that (probably) won’t make it into the book

“And what did Catarine say to you?”

“I don’t remember clearly …”

“Because she never makes much sense,” Cristophe interrupted.

“Something about someone who knew me and would teach me. She acted like she already knew who I was. Marie Villiers said I was to pay no attention to her.”

Susan Dixon February 2, 2023 No Comments

The Writing Benefits of ‘Flu Brain’

While the flu had hold of me, I couldn’t remember the names of things. It was like my brain had just stopped dealing with minor details as it re-ordered itself. That frightened my daughter who began to ask for instructions on paying bills. I took naps.

Susan Dixon January 10, 2023 No Comments

Writing through the flu

In the week between Christmas and New Years I had Plans. I reviewed my 2022 calendar and made notes in the one for 2023. January 2022 had virtually no notes at all except for little To Do lists for a one-week writing retreat I took at an artists foundation outside of town. It was only about 10 miles away but farther than I had been in two years and a nice way to remind myself that I might have chosen not to travel but I could still write. So, I decided in 2023 I would kick up my game and actually finish the complete draft. Finish it enough to send it to an editor by the end of the month. Starting Monday, January 2.

Susan Dixon January 4, 2023 No Comments

Seeing in the Dark

It is said that when Druids were in training they would spend hours at a time in stone beehive huts, utterly in the dark, so as to be able to memorize the enormous body of knowledge their culture held. Nothing was written down.

Susan Dixon December 13, 2022 No Comments

November

Show’s over, folks. And didn’t October do
A bang-up job? ….
Maggie Dietz, “November,” in That Kind of Happy (The University of Chicago Press, 2016)

Susan Dixon November 1, 2022 No Comments

Haint

“Haint” is an Appalachian world for a spirit, a ghost, a haunt. My mother saw one once. This is about when I heard one.

Susan Dixon October 27, 2022 1 Comment

A Novel Writer’s Dilemma

Trying to understand the 12th century from the vantage point of the 21st is like trying to imagine the life of one of those organisms in the depth of the ocean. We can’t do it. Too much has been lost.

Susan Dixon October 10, 2022 No Comments

WIP : Glimpse of the main character

This image is the closest I could come to what I have in my imagination. I am not certain Zelie had colored pencils. In any case, I have never seen any. She will acquire other supplies as the story goes on but at least this image suggests a young girl. And a question to keep in mind throughout the story: is she the main character?

Susan Dixon September 26, 2022 No Comments

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Susan Dixon