Moons ago, someone carved me a nickname into the sand. The tide came and swept my name away. That name was "Sputnitsa," which means "fellow traveler" in Russian.
Category Archives: integrity
I Remind Myself, in Troubled Times
Have the courage to accept our responsibility and our pain as our starting point. Imagine, seek and honor the most compelling truth of “the other side.” Abandon demeaning speech and belittling thoughts. Forgive others for not being perfect, for not … Continue reading
It is the Now
Times are dark and uncertain, and how things are going to end isn’t a given. Maybe it doesn’t even matter. It’s the love we share in the now that is everything that matters. Love makes and remakes us. And I believe … Continue reading
Posted in being, challenges, communication, community service, culture shock, faith, giving, giving is healing, goals, helping others, integrity, kindness, learning from others, life, love, never ending story, plan b, power, self-creation, volunteering, volunteerism, what next, what now, youth development
Tagged community service, faith, giving is healing, kindness, love, power, what next, what now
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Timber, I’m not falling
Strange days, strange days. Recently I got some beautiful feedback on my screenplay, CROW. Things were said which I hadn’t realized I needed to hear. When I began CROW, I knew it might take six or seven scripts before I wrote a worthy … Continue reading
On Gimmicks: just poorly disguised weaknesses or insulting cons and crutches?
I’ve been thinking about gimmicks recently. Such an ugly word, “gimmick.” It sounds sticky, gummy and like a cheap con. Well, to me it does. So what brings this on? The book I read on Saturday. I read it till … Continue reading
What does fiction owe reality, or what ought it adhere to, if anything?
A friend was asking me how many pages of my book my seemingly endless research will take up. It won’t take up too much. Maybe ten to fifteen pages total. But I need them to be accurate. I have a … Continue reading
Posted in accuracy, books, challenges, fiction, historical fiction, history, integrity, whatnot, writing
Tagged accuracy, analyzing fiction, challenges, fiction, historical fiction, history, integrity, laziness, research, whatnot, writing
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Ask, and ye shall receive…
“Excuse me, miss, I don’t want to disturb you,” he said. His eyes were a wide blue, his cheeks covered with stubble. A man in his mid thirties or forties. Slovenly and of feeble carriage. His voice neither deep nor … Continue reading
Posted in helping others, integrity, life, New York, urban instinct, whatnot
Tagged life, New York, random, urban instinct, whatnot
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that magic feeling
Scenes don’t stand alone in books. They fit, they move, they’re living parts of the organism that is a book. Ideally. But for them to work like that requires vision and a sense of the larger story, of the whole. … Continue reading
Posted in fiction, finding your own way, first drafts, integrity, scenes, writing, writing update
Tagged first drafts, integrity, scenes, writing, writing process
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