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Where did July and August go? Computer Woes. First, my server has been wonky for the last two weeks–apologies. If you have any difficulty getting to pages, please send me an email so I can straighten it out (darcy at darcypattison dot com). Travel. For me, this summer included a great two-week trip to China. [...]
I am just back from 2 weeks in China! We went to western China to Urumqi for 2 days, then 9 days in Beijing. Partly, we went for our friend’s engagement party. What can I say? Fabulous, wonderful, amazing. No, I won’t bore you with ALL of our 2000 pictures. (Really, we took about that [...]
Ours is a business of ideas: unique, fresh, high-concept, sweet, outstanding. Without a great idea, your story has little chance of flying in “today’s crowded market.” One new source of ideas is the curriculum that is taking shape around the Common Core State Standards. In the past two years, education reform has swept across the [...]
I’m grouchy. I just bought a week’s pass at the Medical Center parking deck. My MIL has been sick, in and out of ICU, finally back to a rehab place, but in ER twice this week. Probably will go back before the end of the week, hence the week’s pass. Writing? Yes and no. When [...]
I’ve started my new novel. 443 words! But, life is already intruding. How dare it? Family health issues (MIL in hospital), news of great joy (too early to be public about these), events that require massive amounts of intense time (Arkansas Literary Festival), planning for future events, and well, fill in the blank with your [...]
Over on Happy Accidents, Greg Pincus is talking about the question of “Do you Spend Too Much Time Online”? He points out that you can do a lot in a short amount of time. Work Smarter, not Harder This week, I sat down and tried to figure out all the tasks that I now know [...]
Arkansas was blanketed with snow yesterday, up to 2 feet in NW-Arkansas, and about 6″ (officially) in central Arkansas, although it looks like much more to me. When you have an unexpected day off, what do you do? Read. I had already bought Paolo Bacigalupi’s book, Shipbreakers, which just won the Printz award for best [...]
Revision is NOT a dirty word. Really. I know it takes time to revise. Again. But it’s so necessary; in fact, your book won’t sell unless you revise. Sigh. I know. I hate it, too. And really, what should you revise? Should you take my advice and do that BIG revision? Or will the story [...]
A friend has the enviable position of finding himself receiving an offer of representation for his first adult novel. It’s an amazing story: first novel, first agent who saw it is totally enthusiastic. Thrilling! But on the heels of the excitement comes the realization that possible publication brings with it a new set of problems. [...]
What do you do to keep your ideas fresh and fun? I’m a lifelong learner, I guess. I could live at school and in the academic world. But I also know that I need constant input to keep sharp. Conferences & Retreats. I am looking around the region to see where there are interesting and [...]
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