Red Room Where the Writers Are

The transformative power of writing a novel »

I used to make myself ill with rage. I didn’t and still don’t agree with the establishment of a Jewish state and I especially object to Israelis claiming to speak in my name.

How do I love starting a new novel? Let me count the ways... »

I love starting a new novel. There is something so filled with hope, and purpose.  You've got the idea, it excites you.

Poison »

I was walking in the woods yesterday though a shady summer Northern California hillside of madrone, bay laurel, and oak.

The "Drawer" Novel »

I once wrote a “dirty” book called Showing Pink.  "Some people write about sex using metaphors," a friend told me. "In Showing Pink, you use sex as a metaphor for everything else."

Diary of a Bad Year »

  A novel?

WOOIE WOOIE DEUX »

All Kafka, all the time, was not my intent for this blog . But I don't mind him roaming around.

Plotting »

I'm looking out my office window, trying to write, but mostly watching a low-slung fox hunt a squirrel. The fox makes me think of a coat I once had, its plush, silky collar.

HUMAN BURROW »

A burrow offers security and comfort, and Kafka found both in his sister's tiny house on the Golden Lane.

Dare I Blog? »

I've sworn I wouldn't do it. I feel like I'm stepping into dangerous territory -- blogdom.

The Writer's Middle Finger (How to grow it, groom it, love it, and stretch it) »

Last winter, I hit a bump. A big bump. I forgot why I write.

What’s the Diff... »

--between writing fiction and poetry? folks ask me when they find out I've written a lot of poems for a novelist

On Your Way to the Incinerator »

If you think writers are born rather than made and brilliant writing is recognized immediately, those rejection slips for your novel—or story or nonfiction query, or (he

WOOIE WOOIE »

I have an author friend who uses the term "Wooie Wooie" (with proper emphasis on the 'ooie ooie') to describe connections which should not happen.

Elevator Pitch »

Okay, Red Room authors and members, here's the key question: if all you read was the brief description below, would you want to read the novel?

Friday Check In »

House a mess? Check.Pile of ungraded student papers growing not shrinking? Check.

More on Leaping (though not on Lemurs) »

"Are you afraid of this happiness?" ~ The Buddha (according to my page-a-day Zen calendar).

Moving Forward, Hoorah! »

There it sits on the dining room table, the printout of the second draft of my novel, THE OAKLANDERS.

Interview with LA Times Book Prize Finalist »

In a month, on April 25, the winners of L.A.Times Book Prizes will be announced. Red Room author Pamela Erens is on the shortlist.

I Very Shyly Loudly Yell It »

I have finished my draft. My second draft.Of my novel.

Writing Backwards and Inside Out »

My brain is working overtime.

Don't Even Think About It »

I don't think any writer truly likes to wake up in the morning, sit down at the writing table, and say, "Today I am writing a novel."

Messages from the Universe »

This week, I arrived home from Mexico to cancellations. My "Developing the Novel" class is cancelled due to low enrollment.

Demorado »

Demorado. It means "delayed" in Spanish, and I learned that word Friday when both of my flights home from Mexico were, indeed, demorado.

The Evil Editor Takes the Autobus Local »

Five p.m. today and suddenly it hits me. Lassitude in my limbs, a sinking in my stomach, a buzzing in my ears. My head aches sharply. Torpor, not the good kind. Despair.

You Can't Go Home Again.... »

.....not even in writing.Let me explain.

What Keeps Me Up at Night »

Three protagonists. Three points of view. Three threads to braid.

Las Dias de WHINE y Rosas »

Today is hit-the-wall day here in paradise, otherwise known as the Casa Colonial in Oaxaca, Mexico where I've been holed up for two weeks

what a writer can't do »

It’s annoying to me that I cannot capture facial expressions and body expressions for characters the way that I want to. Film does that.

Great Moments (So Far) in the Almost-Publication of My First Novel (Part One) »

The Inspiration

Good Books and Good Ball: What Harriet Doerr, a fine novelist, owed to Bob Gibson, a fine pitcher. »

Harriet Doerr, who died five years ago at age 92, was a literary late bloomer. Her first novel, Stones for Ibarra, was published in 1984, when she was 74.

Write What You Know, Ask for Advice and Accept Critique »

When people ask an Author, "When did you start writing?" or "How did you come up with that idea?", it's a great opportunity for the Author to open up and share his/her part of t

Ideas for Novels, Part II »

Last time I mentioned that people often give me ideas for books, and while that's true, for some reason I can't remember any besides the one I got from my tax consultant.

Writer's are weird »

 Writer's are weird. There, I've said it.

Searching For An Ending, published in Encylopedia, http://www.encyclopediaproject.org »

Escaping The Ending