Escape: not always such a bad thing.Writer and blogger, Cally Taylor, has had her first novel published, Heaven Can Wait, and it is a perfect way to make an escape from whatever autumn doldrums might be plaguing you.  Cally is well into her blog tour now and much has...

Here's a confession.  I am an absolutely addicted devotee of Roget's Thesaurus.  I have been one since my fourth grade teacher had us write a piece called "A Surrendipitous Journey" using as many adjectives as possible.  To this day, I never write a sentence, be it in...

While I was on the other side of the pond, The Guardian ran a story on its website here entitled "Are Theatre and Poetry Really So Different?"  Ah, a topic close to my heart.  This piece begins what could be a rather complicated, though inevitably fascinating...

Before I left on my trip I asked the question over here whether people found it easier to create when thrust beyond their normal surroundings.  Three-quarters of the way into my trip and I seem to have an answer for me, for now.  Two answers, actually. My new novel,...

Being on the road once more, I thought this would be a good time to announce the results of CurvingRoad's Call for Submission.  Discerning readers may recall that, a few years ago, my friend and I founded the arts charity, CurvingRoad, to help launch the professional...

Back from Verona after an absolutely blissful couple of days.  It is a beautiful city, with wonderful architecture, inviting bridges, mouth-watering frescoes. The Romeo and Juliette references do get a bit silly, but that has more to do with the crazy Brits than the...

Here I go, traveling again.  First, a fun trip with a friend to Verona.  A bit of a celebratory, empty nest sort of trip, an I-can-do-it-now-so-why-don't-I kind of thing. Then after a few days home, I'm off to the States to visit family and go to Parents' Weekend at...

What?  Two posts in a row, I can hear you ask. Yes, well, I know it's very unusual, but I did want to have a little chat about yesterday's celebration of National Poetry Day and the 100th Anniversary of The Poetry Society at the Royal Festival HallI had no idea what...

I've been thinking a lot lately about how we writers market ourselves...or don't.  The more I write and publish the more I understand that we do have to take matters into our own hands.  We have to get out there however we can, force our ways into the reading public's...

A short while ago, I asked the question here:              When you finish a project, how do you decide what to work on next?I got a variety of fascinating answers:     * When a project is finished, I take a break and read a lot     * I always have a queue of of...

I've been awarded the "Your Blog is Fabulous" Award by JJ and Nik.  How wonderful is that?  It means             "Integrity.  Commitment to Excellence. Stubbornly Optimistic."  I'd love to think all that is true.  I do try, at least.  But what this award is also about...

Clash of the Innocents, my second novel,  has started its way in the world and the inevitable question is, "what now?"  I have a list of projects, all lined up like ducks in a row, that have been waiting patiently for me to have the time and the brain-space to attend...

Gentle Reader,If you cast your eyes ever so slightly to the right, you will see my "Progress Report" Bar.  Do notice that it is completely, completely, filled in with a lovely purple hue from left all the way to the right.  Yes, it's really true this time.  I have, to...

Genius Floored: a great title for a wonderful book with a great cover (sorry, the photo doesn't do it justice). Published by Soaring Penguin, a small press that heard about the project and stepped up to help. Thank God for small presses.....Friday evening I went to...

I'm in a bit of a rush right now so this will be quick.A couple of weeks ago I made a big announcement that I had completed my new manuscript. Well, never mind.In my exuberance, not to mention impatience, I made that statement before I heard the comments of one of my...

Living in Europe, I'm surrounded by history in a way I never was living in New York. Of course it's in the nature of history that most of it is before my time and only really touches me tangentially, at best. But I remember the Cold War. It was the backdrop of my...

Yesterday was the first day in over twenty years when, all things being equal, I didn't have to wake up at some ungodly hour to send some kid off to school. I slept in until 8.30 (jet-lag assisted). The house was quiet -- the husband was already at work. Over coffee...

I had a wonderful professor back in graduate school who we affectionately called "Kenny Rainbow." There were many reasons for this, but the main reason was that through the years, into middle and then older age, he continued to be a huge "Wizard of Oz" fan. And I mean...

Susan Richardson has very kindly awarded me the "Kreativ Blogger" award. I actually received this a while ago and responded here. The response I gave before still applies, but now, several months and a summertime later, it all has a different meaning and poignancy to...

There's still about a week left before I head back to London, but the place is clearing out, the weather is closing in (not that it's been that good this summer), and I feel myself getting ready to get back to my real, workaday life (whatever that is). So, as my first...

Takin' a break for a couple of weeks. It's time for family, fun, eating just caught striper, going to the beach when the sun comes out, packing as much into each day as we can. Should come out of it all by the end of the month, but in the meantime, here's a little...

Photo Credit: Juliet Van OtterenLast night I was among 300 people who came to listen to Billy (we all just call him "Billy," it seems) read under a big white tent with failing chandelier light. It was magical, but watching him do his thing is magical no matter what...

Several months ago, I asked to be a part of the blogging gesture "Pay It Forward" that Angie was offering here. Time passed, Angie got busy writing and revising and, I believe, losing her appendix. But while I was briefly in the UK last week, I stopped home in London...

I'm writing this way too early in the morning. My brain popped awake at 4.45, and try as I might -- and I did for an hour and a half -- I couldn't fall back to sleep so I thought I'd use the time to tell you about my weekend at the Polyverse Poetry Festival at the...

It's pouring rain here today, which is making it psychologically easier to prepare for my trip off-Island. Tomorrow I head off for a quick trip back to England to attend the Polyverse Poetry Festival being held at the University Of Loughborough. I first blogged about...

At the behest of Jane Smith at How Publishing Really Works , bloggers around the world are using today to bring attention to the problem of plagiarism. Although I have been lucky enough never to have been a victim of somebody stealing my work, I feel that it is...

Hi. Remember me? I feel like it's been yonks since I last blogged, but I see that it's been less than a week. I guess it is that strange phenomenon called "island time" finally creeping into my molecules. Everything takes longer, lasts longer, goes slower.London is...

I've always been a sucker for Disney movies. Long after the kids grew out of them, I insisted on keeping videos of "Beauty and the Beast" and "Lion King." Actually, the Disney version of "Alice in Wonderland" remains one of my all-time favourite movies of any kind....

I'm sitting in my bed in my house on the Island. I'm still a bit jet-lagged and so I'm waking earlier than usual. Every summer when I first arrive I become reacquainted with the experience of early morning calm, those moments that you often see poets write about when...

Tomorrow I leave the big city and head off to a summer in the country, but I'll be back for a very exciting weekend in July that I want to tell you about. A new poetry festival called "Polyverse Poetry" will be held on the grounds of Loughborough University during the...