Tag Archives: writing
Who’s a Good Boy?
Tam Lin, aka my Tim-Tam-Tommy-O, was a super good dog yesterday, which also happened to be his 16-month-old day. I told him I was going to blog about how wonderful he was, and he said, more or less, “About time! … Continue reading
Projects in Need of Progress
I keep a running “to do” list. Most everything on it gets crossed off in a (fairly) timely fashion. The ones that don’t tend to be those that (1) can’t be accomplished in one sitting, and/or (2) are, for one … Continue reading
Around the World in 30 Years
Shirley Mayhew could have rested on her laurels after publishing Looking Back: My Long Life on Martha’s Vineyard in 2014. It’s a lovely collection of personal essays covering, well, Shirley’s long life on Martha’s Vineyard, from 1947, when she arrived … Continue reading
De-cluttering Before Breakfast
Not long after getting up on New Year’s Day I knocked some papers off my workside table. This was nothing new. What happened next was: I straightened up — “excavated” is probably the better word — the table’s top. This … Continue reading
A Tale of Two (More) Pens
Yesterday I went to see a man about a pen. Turned out to be two pens: it could have been more, but I restrained myself. If you know me, you know I’m a pen junkie. I have more fountain pens, … Continue reading
Tam Lin Goes to a Selectmen’s Meeting
How is writing about Martha’s Vineyard like a puppy chasing its own tail? Real life inspires fiction and fiction starts looking like real life and pretty soon you’ve forgotten which came first. Round and round and round . . . … Continue reading
O is for Online #AtoZChallenge
When the retina in my right eye detached in early August 2004, I’d been off-island at most twice since 9/11. In the following months, I made numerous eye-related trips to Boston: ferry to Woods Hole, bus to South Station, subway … Continue reading
A is for Aquinnah #AtoZChallenge
A is the beginning but Aquinnah is the end, the equivalent of Land’s End on Martha’s Vineyard, as far as you can go before you fall into the ocean. Of course much depends on where you live and where you’re … Continue reading
Why We’re Cautious
Wolfie, my novel in progress, takes place on Martha’s Vineyard, as did its predecessor, The Mud of the Place. Those who eventually read it may have no acquaintance whatsoever with the island, and those who do don’t live on the same Martha’s … Continue reading
3 Quotes, 3 Days: Day 2
For more about the 3 Quotes, 3 Days challenge, see Day 1. When I came to Martha’s Vineyard in 1985, part of me thought I was taking a year off to work on a novel. I never finished that novel, … Continue reading
