My Favorite Writing Tool Is My Car

When I am working on a story, I spend hours thinking through plot lines and motivations, putting myself in my characters’ shoes, and especially, driving to faraway places – alone.

Seriously, I book flights for international trips at airports 5-10 hours from home just so I can spend hours alone in my car. My mother thinks I’m loony. Maybe she’s right, but it works for me.

My beloved Prius
My beloved Prius, christened Moneypenny by my child because of all its cool gadgetry. She has been my most faithful travel buddy for over five years.

I enjoy traveling alone. I’ve traveled all over the US and to several foreign countries by myself. And every single time, I have told myself a story. Entire books have been conceived simply because I went somewhere I’ve never been before. One of them, which I believe could be the start of a series, will hopefully come out in 2022, all because I took a “quick weekend trip” to Richmond, Virginia in 2019. Continue reading “My Favorite Writing Tool Is My Car”

Yep, that’s a picture of a quiche

Yep, that’s a picture of a quiche I baked today. What does it have to do with writing? EVERYTHING. 

This blog is about my life. And writing is all about life. 

Stories are how we make sense of the world, even when it feels like the world makes no sense. Baking quiche is another way to make sense of the world, to feel a smidgen of control in an out-of-control time – to create comfort, beauty, and value. 

It is impossible to separate the writerly parts from the rest because life – feeling it, loving it, living it – is what fuels my work. 

But here’s the thing. I SUCK at journaling. Like, hard-core suck at it. 

Continue reading “Yep, that’s a picture of a quiche”