My Writerly Life

  • MY FAVORITE READS

    My reading preferences have always bent toward literary novels, and over the years I have devoured some of the great works, like William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying and Vladimir Nabokov’s Pale Fire. In the last 10-15 years, I shifted my focus to modern works that had a chance of earning a coveted place in… Read more

  • DISCOVERING SHAKESPEARE

    Like many people, I suspect, I was slow to embrace Shakespeare. In fact it did not happen until the senior year of my BA in Literature, when I had no choice. Fortunately, my instructor was the head of the department and a Shakespeare scholar. As a result of her forced immersion, I now include a… Read more

  • CITY MOUSE & COUNTRY MOUSE

    Years back, I was living just down the road from my cousin—the inspiration for the lead character in my novel, WRANGLE. The blogsite, Women Writing the West, was kind enough to print this post about Sharon’s ranching life, and I’m sure they would not object to a reprint: My cousin Sharon McAmis was the inspiration… Read more

  • SURRENDERING TO POETRY

    Poetry was once a major literary form, but has faded from popularity in a world of impatient, busy people who write in emojis. Now imagine trying to get college freshmen to slow down and dig through the elevated language and hidden meanings and to stop and absorb the poem’s emotional gifts. As an instructor, I… Read more