I close Anna’s door behind me. It’s too close to lunch to take her out and I can’t wait one more minute to tell her all that happened. I’m not supposed to shut the door, but it’s not a huge rule. I can’t risk talking to her with the door open, but with it closed, no one will hear a thing. They made the doors and walls soundproof, so that patients don’t hear each other at night.

“It’s me,” I say, kneeling in front of Anna’s chair. I must remember to get her a pair of glasses, even if she can only wear them around me. Her head is dropped and she has a slight pulse to upper body, repeatedly moving just an inch forward and back. Read the rest of this entry

I don’t know if Bea’s lesson actually put magic in my stomach. But I’m more than sure Jake put a fireball of furious loathing in my heart. I’ve been imagining Mrs. Hamilton poisoning Scottie ever since he planted the idea in my head.

I tried to be fair about it.  I even asked Rod on the ride home (and yes, he was more than ticked off at waiting so long) if he thought the cook who has worked for us for the last two years could be capable of such a thing. He’s never met this one, but he said sure, and that people are always capable of stupid acts of grotesque horror when acting in their own selfish interests. That wasn’t really what I was looking for, but it told me his frame of mind was no more reliable than mine. So I just shut up, petted sweet Scottie, and let the fury grow. Read the rest of this entry

Two things have happened that I’ll never be able to fully explain to anyone else. 

One, Scottie is up and walking around, checking out the place like she hasn’t been sick a day in her life. The other is that I’m about to get my first lesson in real magic.

It all happened so fast. I just told Bea everything about Anna and how I came to find this place. I’ve never seen anyone listen the way that woman does. I swear, she was listening with her eyes, ears, fingers and toes. Maybe even the length of her spine. She got it all on the first take, no explanations needed. Even Jake seemed to need no further information than what I gave. It’s like they trust me, already. Or maybe would just know if I wasn’t telling the truth.  Read the rest of this entry

Oh Clemintine, AKA CLEM, is trying to write a novel.  She describes herself as follows: “You know the kind of person who talks just to fill up the silence and can’t stop talking even when her throat is red, dry, and extremely sore, even when the talking will logically make said throat even more red, dry, and sore? Well, that’s me. I talk when others are talking, I talk when others are quiet, and I listen when someone needs my ears. Read the rest of this entry

An 18-year-old bloggernamed Bambee de la Paz has caused cyber-space to crackle in the Philippines. Normally, Ms. De la Paz doesn’t blog very much. Mostly she posts about her golf scholarship at the University of Cincinnati or being pestered by boys for a date. She likes rock bands Incubus and Dashboard Confessional and lists “The Da Vinci Code” and “Lord of the Rings” among her favorite reads. But on the day after Christmas, back home with her family in Manila for the holidays and a few rounds of golf, Ms. De la Paz started tapping out something different.

Read more in this article on Bambee by James Hookway in the Wall Street Journal.

This is brilliant! The genius of Apple and Pixar shares three great stories from his life (no big deal he says!) on challenge, fate, excellence, and what really matters.  Just think of this guy’s life as a novel…and you are learning much about writing as you go!  Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish!

How to Write Books With Passion, Magic and…Stereotypes? Part Four Of “So You Want To Write A Book” is all about what it means to have a chapter feel ROUGH to the writer….

How do you write compelling characters? Build it into the action…