Snow Days, Muses and More

A little while back, I posted about lusting after a byline in the New York Times column, Modern Love. Then, this past Sunday, who has the ML spot but Ann Hood, novelist, essayist extraordinaire, and one of my former MFA faculty mentors. Her piece is about the how a blue-red line runs down the center of her marriage. If you missed it, read it now here.

Then today, a snowy cold day in New Jersey, a day when I was desperately summoning the elusive muse, I came across a lovely little essay by the erstwhile leader of my local MEWS (Montclair Editors and Writers Society). If you are even slightly curious about the places where writers write, you'll like Pam Redmond Satran's piece, and you can read it here.

As I said, a snowy day here, and a snow day – the first this winter – for the kids. Since they knew Mom had a deadline, they promised to keep busy and get along. After shoveling and snowball fights, they busted a glass bowl holding Maine beach rocks (a Wii casualty) and I thought it might be all downhill. But I had to head back to my office. Then, it got so quiet around mid-afternoon, I had to investigate…only to find older son reading to younger son…and the next time I looked in, at 4:00…it was 100 pages later, but they were both still on the couch.

I met my deadline.

I'm liking snow days better and better.

"Literature is like any other trade; you will never sell anything unless you go to the right shop." - George Bernard Shaw