Marion Dane Bauer's Blog, page 19
February 21, 2017
Sequel, Anyone?
Have you ever thought of taking the book Runt and making it a young adult series? Or at least adding a second book? I fell in love with this book as a young girl and here I am at 21 and I still adore this book and wonder why a sequel was not written. If […]
The post Sequel, Anyone? appeared first on Just Thinking.
February 14, 2017
The Thing is to Love Life
The thing is to love life, to love it even when you have no stomach for it, and everything you’ve held dear crumbles like burnt paper in your hands, your throat filled with the silt of it… Then you hold life like a face between your palms, a plain face, no charming smile, no violet […]
The post The Thing is to Love Life appeared first on Just Thinking.
February 7, 2017
When It’s All a Pile of Sh* * *
Has it happened to you? You’ve worked hard and with good heart all day. Your manuscript seems to be going well. Before you step away, you go back to reread your day’s output, and you’re satisfied. More than satisfied, maybe. You are really pleased. Your words sing. You can feel their music deep in your […]
The post When It’s All a Pile of Sh* * * appeared first on Just Thinking.
January 31, 2017
The Odds Against Us
…the odds against us are endless, our chances of being alive together statistically nonexistent; still we have made it, alive in a time when rationalists in square hats and hatless Jehovah’s Witnesses agree that it is almost over, alive with our lively children who – but for endless if’s – might have missed out on […]
The post The Odds Against Us appeared first on Just Thinking.
January 24, 2017
LoonSong, Once Again
“Magical!” It’s what the participants said last fall about the first ever LoonSong Writers’ Retreat set in the stunning wilderness of northern Minnesota. “The best writing retreat I’ve ever been on!” “Intimate and yet expansive.” “My soul sings.” And it’s going to happen once again, September 7th through the 11th, 2017. Faculty—and oh, what a […]
The post LoonSong, Once Again appeared first on Just Thinking.
January 17, 2017
The Flame Within Us
At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us. Albert Schweitzer
The post The Flame Within Us appeared first on Just Thinking.
January 10, 2017
Beginnings
It’s the time of year to think about beginnings. And endings. We on this globe—at least those who live some distance from the unchanging belt around the middle—live in a world of constant beginnings and endings. The snow blesses then gives way to flowers. The leaves unfurl then tumble into dust. The sun rises then […]
The post Beginnings appeared first on Just Thinking.
January 3, 2017
The One Hidden Story
Hidden in all stories is the One story. The more we listen, the clearer that [universal] Story becomes. Our true identity, who we are, why we are here, what sustains us, is in this story. The stories at every kitchen table are about the same things, stories of owning, having and losing, stories of sex, […]
The post The One Hidden Story appeared first on Just Thinking.
December 27, 2016
The Secrets of Our Hearts
In my last blog I talked about knowing ourselves, about using that knowledge as the basis of all we choose to write, even nonfiction. I talked about knowing what we love, because that’s where all writing starts, with what we love, what gives us energy, what gives us hope. But when it comes to writing […]
The post The Secrets of Our Hearts appeared first on Just Thinking.
December 20, 2016
The Heart Has Secrets
Often we are reminded that the heart has secrets which it cannot share with anyone, not even with itself. This is true because there is in each one of us lingering desires that have long since spent themselves in overt or direct action; there are the throbs of impulses that have not become sufficiently articulate […]
The post The Heart Has Secrets appeared first on Just Thinking.
