Supplementary material, photographs, outtakes, and commentary
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…
Continue Reading A scene that (probably) won’t make it into the book
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.…
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…
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.
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)
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.
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.
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…
Work In Progress
Once upon a time …. I found a story. I was working on a project (my doctoral dissertation) where I had to show that what I said was True. I had to have Documentation. And Footnotes. But I couldn’t prove that my story…
Poem for the Season
Each day, the autumn, eating a little further into the bone. … Poem Kerry Hardie. Image by Dede Hatch