I mentioned last week that I got a chance to visit the garden home of P. Allen Smith, who is kind of legendary in Arkansas as an expert in all things garden and home. We were visiting to learn more about the 529 plan in Arkansas, but of course part of the fun was also […]
The Tall Black Lady Smiling
I wanted to name my daughter Maya. Maya Angelou may be the reason I am a writer. She was probably the first female writer who I really read in high school, who made me feel like everyone has a story that is worthy of being told, and indeed must be told, in order to be […]
Why Writers Need to Be Readers
Every now and then you’ll come across a writer (often an unpublished writer, but still) who says they don’t read. They’ll offer as an excuse the need to keep their voice pure, to stay inside their own heads. To which I say, if your voice is that vulnerable to influence maybe it’s not that great […]
Letting Your Kids Create, Even When You Don’t Want to
This morning at 6:17 a.m., the girl asked to paint. Sometimes it’s hard even for me to muster the enthusiasm for creativity. But I know that it’s important, so we did it. Make Your Life Easier If you have a kid who wants to create at all hours, make it as easy as possible for […]
What “Mad Men” Can Teach You About the Creative Process
I have been a fan of “Mad Men” for a long time, for a lot of reasons, and while I haven’t been enjoying this season so much, I loved this week’s episode (706, “The Strategy”) in part because of the really accurate illustration of the creative process. In the pitch meeting, Peggy feels pretty good […]
Painting with Frozen Watercolors
The other weekend husband was going out of town, and it was one of those uncharacteristically hot spring weekends, so I wanted to have something fun and special planned that we could do in the heat. We didn’t need it then, because we stayed much longer at a birthday party than we probably should have, […]
How to Limit Your Expectations When Things are Super Busy
I know I’m not the only one with a to do list longer than the time allowed to do it right now. Lots of people in my world have been talking about being busy, needing to stop and take time to schedule things and feeling like things are falling through the cracks. I definitely know […]