In retrospect: The month of July surprised Gerty. Daily, the weather challenged her wardrobe–should she dress for rain, summer heat, or frigid Canadian air masses? The first few days brought excessive rain and flood warnings from media weather gurus. A … Continue reading Gerty and the Great Outdoors
These days, when an intelligent and determined person like Greta Thunberg conveys the urgency of climate degradation and hopes to lead others to effect change, her actions and message defy societal limitations often imposed on people who manage their lives … Continue reading THE KITCHEN DAUGHTER
[Lustredust, an illustration I created for my last novel, is this post’s featured image.] While working out the shocking and unexpected turning point of my story, “Only Regrets,” my worktable beckoned me again, this time with an invitation to draw … Continue reading Cartoons with Wings
My fingertips grazed the keyboard without effect. Stuck at my short story’s critical point, I needed to escape the laptop shaming my writer’s block. Near my desk, a raft of new drawing supplies sat in a fresh arrangement of cans … Continue reading Cartoons, Sketches, Drawings – 2
My fingertips grazed the keyboard without effect. Stuck at my short story’s critical point, I needed to escape the laptop shaming my writer’s block. Near my desk, a raft of new drawing supplies sat in a fresh arrangement of cans … Continue reading Cartoons, Sketches, Drawings – 2
Plenty of reviews favor Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven, an apocalyptic novel whose narrative kills off 99% of humanity in a contemporary 21st century setting. I picked it up to read in tandem with Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton. I can only note my response to the book [anxiety, chills, and wild thoughts] without formally reviewing it because I imagine that none of those reviews was written in the context of a nearly global viral epidemic, the fictional analog being Station Eleven’s device bringing about the end of the world as we know it. The story … Continue reading Notes on “Station Eleven”
[The strange animal noises Ella heard when she first moved into her new, “perfect” apartment have stopped. Her neighbor, Dave, eases her concerns and feeling less anxious, she decides to explore her neighborhood] By the end of the week, I … Continue reading The Horror Story Builds: next segment of “Only Regrets”
Pico Iyer–journalist, essayist, unintentional (?) philosopher–quotes several thinkers in his book Autumn Light, an exploration of losses and other turning points in his life. Referring to Thomas Merton’s ‘Fire Sermon’ in response to death or estrangement among family and friends, he says life itself is a burning house. To what then can we cling? Merton’s answer: “Only the certainty that nothing will go according to design; our hopes are newly built wooden houses, sturdy until someone drops a cigarette or match.” An appropriate reference in the context of his return trip to his alternate home in Nara, Japan, where fires … Continue reading On Walks Through Autumns
Recently, a reader asked about my writing process, especially the way I prepare to write. That person felt at a loss about plunging in during, say, those first 15 minutes sitting in front of the computer and before typing an opening … Continue reading The First Fifteen Minutes
I am used to imagining the ways that dragons think and respond to humans, to change, and to challenges. For years, I studied dragon lore and felt the need to write my own story about them, which I did; and while two … Continue reading Did That Dragon Call My Name?
Susan Bass Marcus Writes 