A Vortext of Words during a Weekend on Whidbey

Impatience, hope, despair, rage, fear, acceptance. Path to self-destruction? Guests at a pity party? No. They are states of mind of the writer and they were lived and witnessed during the course of an uplifting, inspirational three-day writing salon for women called Vortext, held May 31-June 2. Created by Hedgebrook, the writing retreat for women…

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When de la Cruz Family Danced Goes to Indianola

It’s been nearly two years since my novel When the de la Cruz Family Danced was published, so more than ever it’s a delight to discover readers, especially when they are practically in your own figurative backyard. Having lived in Seattle for thirty-six years, I’d heard of Indianola, but had only a vague idea of…

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Two Rejections, a Reading, and a Photo (Sort of) with Peter Coyote

Getting one’s writing published can be an exercise in both perseverance and masochism. Most of us have experienced both seemingly endless strings of rejections and mercifully short ones. This is a story of the latter. Two rejections indirectly led to my essay “Home is Where the Wart Is” being included in New California Writing 2013,…

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The Next Big Thing—Skinny, awkward brown girl

Wendy Call, author of No Word for Welcome (winner of the Grub Street 2011 National Book Prize in Non-Fiction), tagged me in the Internet chain game in which writers answer a set of questions about their next writing project. You can read Wendy’s lovely responses here. Her next book promises to be a lush and…

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Belonging and Proyecto Saber—Not Minor Things

Belonging (or not belonging) is a theme I deal with frequently in my writing, including my current project, a novel depicting the life lessons a Mexican-American girl learns in kindergarten through high school. The project is supported by artist grants from two local organizations (Thank you, 4Culture and Seattle Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs),…

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Weekend at Wordstock – October 13-14, 2012

Wordstock is the largest book festival in the Northwest and takes place in green, hipster, literary Portland, OR. I had long been meaning to go but never managed to schedule the trip. This year was different. I was invited to be a festival author! Yes, an exclamatory sentence to indicate my delight and deep appreciation!…

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The Art of the Long Walk

When my husband dropped me off at Golden Gardens Park last Thursday for the start of the Long Walk, many of the walkers had already assembled. “That’s not your demographic,” he chuckled. Indeed, many of the participants were decades younger than I. But at 59, I’m quite fit, having been a runner for over 30…

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Creating a Scene with Charles Baxter

One of my favorite sections in Charles Baxter’s The Art of Subtext: Beyond Plot is “Creating a Scene.” Baxter points out that “In daily life, a writer may practice conflict-avoidance, but in fiction a writer must welcome conflict and walk straight into it.” I was reminded of this recently when I avoided in real life…

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