the body project

After my friends and I did this project there were comments.  Lots and lots of comments.  And many of those comments said this: I want to do it, too! Which gave me an idea.  Other people should do it, too. I cannot tell you how soothing, amazing, and comforting it is to paint words of […]

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do you make an outline when you write a novel?

It’s Thursday morning!  So that must mean it’s time for Writing Wednesday! This question is from Jaime, who wants to know if I make an outline when I write a novel. And the answer is yes. And no. And sort of. [BlueTube]GEuH_wQb09w[/BlueTube] Usually, my outlines are just numbered lists.  Very broad.  The number stands for […]

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it’s Monday, so that must mean: Writing Wednesday!

I’ve seen enough rambling homemade videos on YouTube to know it’s important to keep these Writing Wednesday clips short.  I’m shooting for 2-3 minutes, and even 3 feels a little long. But it is hard to cover very much into 2 minutes.  Sometimes they seem to raise more questions than they answer. But maybe that’s […]

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writing wednesday: friday edition!

I recorded this Writing Wednesday  post yesterday, and my husband was like, “You do know it’s Thursday, right?”  And I was like, “Man, that’s what Writing Wednesday is all about!” So here’s my Friday post for Writing Wednesday!  Happy weekend! [BlueTube]9a0piIJyFKY[/BlueTube]

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written on the body

I’m not sure how I came up with the idea to do this.  But a few weeks back, I decided that I wanted to paint words all over the body of my friend Jenny and have our friend Karen photograph it.  So I asked them.  And to my serious delight they both said yes. Here’s […]

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couldn’t wait for Wednesday!

There’s a good possibility I may never actually post on Wednesday.  But here’s the first one!  Kicking things off with the first–and possibly best–advice I ever got about writing, courtesy of my dad. Here we go!  And feel free to leave questions! [BlueTube]eTtR9FcpDrA[/BlueTube]

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what better day than Saturday for the inaugural Writing Wednesday?

At the suggestion of my amazing friend Brené, I’m starting a weekly series here on the blog about writing.  She even came up with the title: Writing Wednesday. Of course, I’m doing the first Writing Wednesday post on Saturday.  Cause that’s how I roll. And Brené’s original suggestion was to write a post about writing. […]

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art gallery

Summer is officially here, and with it came stacks of art from my children’s schools.  And just as I was looking at the piles and wondering where I would store it all, it occurred to me that I didn’t want to store it.  I wanted to look at it. So began my project of covering […]

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the lives we hoped for

Here’s a video I just made for the essay “The Lives We Hoped For.”  I originally posted the written version here, under I Love Wrinkles, and then the amazing Mary Swenson posted it to Kirtsy.  Which inspired me to read it at a book event a few days ago.  And reading it out loud to […]

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being a grown-up

I saw Lars and the Real Girl the other night for the first time.  I loved the sweetness of the story, and the mystery of the main character, and the message about how we can all take better care of each other. And there was a great description of being a grown up that I […]

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I love wrinkles

In March, while I was on a book tour, I was also on a blog tour.  Random House set it up with the lovely Dorothy, who had me contributing guest essays at blogs around the web. But it all went too fast.  I was racing from town to town, blog to blog.  And I promised […]

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totally crushed-out on this travel trailer

I can’t stop thinking about it.  I can’t stop oggling the photos of it on Craigslist. Apparently, the inside is “gutted.”  And so I keep thinking I could put in some great floor, and a little dinette table, and a couple of mattresses.  And make fantastic curtains out of some great Amy Butler fabric. We […]

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we all carry our mothers inside us

Here’s the second video trailer for the essay “Things to Remember Not to Forget” in Andrea Richesin’s anthology, “Because I Love Her: 34 Women Writers on the Mother-Daughter Bond.”  All the photos, as before, come from the amazing site Square America. [BlueTube]26W3SuWHU-g[/BlueTube]

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you really can’t have everything

Here is the first in a series of 3 videos I am making that feature excerpts from my essay “Things to Remember Not to Forget.”  The essay was just published in an anthology called “Because I Love Her: 34 Women Writers on the Mother-Daughter Bond,” edited by Andrea N. Richesin.  The photos are from an […]

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