When writing a novel we struggle with the tension of leaving out too much of our moral point of view, or putting it in so thick people feel like they’ve read a sermon instead of a story. I like what Anne Lamott says in Bird by Bird. “You need to put yourself at their center,…
Great Quotes
Elizabeth George – On Writing
I’ve written before how much I appreciate Elizabeth George’s Inspector Lynley novels. She writes mysteries and she also wrote a book on writing titled, Write Away. It’s one of my go-to books on hard or confusing days, or just to soak in some good words from a good writer. Today, this quote was particularly helpful….
Raising Cain or Lazarus?
“There is always the temptation in life to diddle around making itsy-bitsy friends and meals and journeys for years on end. It is all so self conscience, so apparently moral…But I won’t have it. The world is wilder than that in all directions, more dangerous…more extravagant and bright. We are…raising tomatoes when we should be…
The Day You Made by Janine Graves
I met Janine a few years ago and was swept up by her lyrical and multi-layered poetry. I asked her to share something for today. I hope you enjoy her work. The Day You Made You were there with me the God of my childheart A friend, a refuge, an escape Our surreal dance magical…
To be a Witness
Madeleine L’Engle quotes Cardinal Suhard in Walking on Water: “To be a witness does not consist in engaging in propaganda, nor even in stirring people up, but in being a living mystery. It means to live in such a way that one’s life would not make sense if God did not exist.” (26)
As Waters Gone By
It’s starting to become a whole lot more real. My novel, As Waters Gone By, launches in a few months! I can’t tell you how surreal it is. Well, I can try. It’s SURREAL! Years of hard work, and still more editing to come. Kat O’Shea, my editor, is brilliant and pushes me to the limit every two…
Quote by Marilynne Robinson
On Monday I recommended When I was a Child I read Book by Marilynne Robinson. Here is a quote from early on, in one of the first essays…. “When I write fiction, I suppose my attempt is to simulate the integrative work of a mind perceiving and reflecting, drawing upon culture, memory, conscience, belief or assumption, circumstance,…
Hope by Emily Dickinson
“Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune–without the words, And never stops at all, And sweetest in the gale is heard; And sore must be the storm That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm. I’ve heard it in the chillest land, And on…
On Writing
My friend Michael Kasper sent me these quotes the other day and I thought I’d share. They’re on writing, but I think we can use them for any of the arts… Much Love, Tina “First of all, if you want to write, write. And second, don’t do it. It’s the loneliest, most depressing work you…
My Invented Country by Isabel Allende
Last week a friend loaned me this book: My Invented Country – A Nostalgic Journey through Chile by Isabel Allende. I read it in two long sittings, drinking it in as if it were a tall glass of ice water and I were living in the desert. It gave me history, culture, and understanding. “If I had never traveled,…
