Life, Death, And Everything In Between
“Living is abnormal.” – Eugene Ionesco I came across Ionesco’s quote right around the first of the year and I thought about sharing it then as my own personal inspiration for how to approach the new year, but in the end I just couldn’t get myself to delve too deeply (and I admit, I was […]
Love Is
Tina Turner famously sang the question, “What’s love got to do with it?” She even called love a “second-hand emotion,” based on the rather cynical principle that “a heart can be broken.” I enjoyed the song when it came out over three decades ago and I will admit there have been a few moments in […]
Seeking Home: One Writer’s Journey
“What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are.” – C. S. Lewis Cincinnati native, Jessica Evans and I share a few things in common that stretch beyond a love of words. Yes, we both have MFAs in […]
Life, Love, Death, Dreams, Hope
I picked up my cell phone just now to text a friend. Then I remembered, she’s gone . . . two weeks already. It’s the fifth time I’ve done that. An idea sparked a laugh, made me think of her, made me want to share a chuckle. That’s how it was for 28 years, since […]
What’s In a Name?
It’s true, I suppose. We could call a rose by another name, Armadillo for example, and it would smell as sweet, would look as beautiful. We would, on certain occasions, be tempted to procure a dozen armadillos for that special someone. Tenderness and love would be implied by that single armadillo on your pillow. Those armadillo […]
Give Yourself Permission
Permission. To take time. To dedicate that time to oneself, to one’s dream(s). To do. This seems like such a simple thing. Yet it is quite profound. Giving ourselves permission. I give myself permission to play, to experiment, to listen . . . to my characters, to myself. I give myself permission to see what happens […]
Thank you, Muhammad Ali
Imagine showing up to grad school, embarking on a journey toward that thing you love, chasing after your passion, and in the process moving closer to your deep down self . . . Imagine being in the lobby of the historic hotel that will be your dorm for the next ten days, downtown Louisville . […]
Making Time for Our Passion
“Absence diminishes mediocre passions and increases great ones, as the wind extinguishes candles and fans fires.” – Francois de La Rouchefoucauld I think this is one of the reasons so many people get to the middle of life and feel unsatisfied, disillusioned, restless . . . as if something is missing. Because something is missing. […]
I Love to Write
I love to write. To be at the page. That moment when the conscious self gives way to the subconscious and you are transported to another dimension, one where time seems suspended, where time seems to pass as if you’re in some sci-fi flick where years go by for people on the outside but for […]
The Obstacle Is The Path
There is a Zen saying that sometimes the obstacle in the path is the path. A friend of mine who is not a writer, though he is a very talented visual artist, shared some insight with me once that has resonated with me quite a bit the past few months. “Consider this,” he said: “in the […]
Live With Intention
“Lean forward into your life. Begin each day as if it were on purpose.” – Mary Anne Radmacher I am starting a new trend for myself this very moment. From now on, I intend to begin each day as if it were on purpose. With INTENTION! And that intention is to write . . . […]
It’s About Time
“How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before it’s afternoon. December is here before it’s June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?” – Dr. Seuss It’s no coincidence that I started my new job on August 4th and I’ve only written one blog […]
Sweet Memories
“One lives in the hope of becoming a memory.” – Antonio Porch We may not spend our time consciously trying to live a life worth remembering, but I imagine many of us would like to mean enough to someone that we become a memory. A good memory. I think the people who become the best […]
Humor Saved My Life
“You’re only given one little spark of madness. You mustn’t lose it.” – Robin Williams I think it’s safe to say that laughter saved my life. Not in a keep-the-body-working escape-death sort of way, but in a keep-the-spirit-soaring sort of way, a feed-the-soul make-it-all-worthwhile sort of way. Most of my early health issues took place […]
Bedtime Stories and Snatched Books
When I was a boy, you would have needed one of those super-powered commercial staple guns to keep me in place for longer than a few moments. And those rare times when I did pause (like in the photo below of my sister on the stairs) you’d probably think I was up to something. That […]
Under The Bus
“Read whatever you want. But you should feel embarrassed when what you’re reading was written for children.” – Ruth Graham That was the subtitle to the piece published in Slate back in June titled “Against YA.” In the piece, Ms. Graham doesn’t just throw YA fiction under the bus. She stops and backs the […]
What To Do When Feeling Lost, Stuck, or Lacking Motivation
“The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” – Sylvia Plath Of course, as discussed before, there are several other enemies including a lack of motivation. In my experience, a lack of motivation often stems from one or more of the following things: doubt, fear, an inability to focus and/or to concentrate due to anxiety or […]
Being Receptive – Creative Sparks Take Many Forms
“Children are extremely perceptive and absorb what goes on around them long before they can talk or even comprehend language. They are like finely tuned receivers that pick up much more than is merely said. They are receptive and attuned to every mood, feeling, and change that goes on in people around them.” – Theodore […]
The Best Things I Learned From My Dad
“Listen,” my dad said. “Be a good listener.” I grew up as a fan of superheroes, sure, and of mountain men, and of good-guy gunslingers who disappeared after the town was saved, and of self-less soldiers, and of super-sleuth detectives (and we can’t forget NINJAS), and of all sorts of heroic types my dad and […]
Time: Making Every Second Count While Chasing Your Dream
“Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.” – Carl Sandburg Believe it or not, I barely had enough time to get this post done. And I’ve been […]
Dear Mom
“Mothers are fonder than fathers of their children because they are more certain they are their own.” – Aristotle Gotta love that Aristotelian wit. Though, doubtless, there have been many moments when my mother has scratched her head and wondered that very thing. Last week I wrote about being different. Well, there’s no way I’d […]
Being Different
“It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for something you are not.” ~ Andre Gide True as Gide’s statement is, being hated for any reason can be pretty ugly sometimes. Especially if it seems to be a collective thing. One person hating you is, perhaps, to be expected, […]
Worry, Anxiety, Fear: Obstacles to Creativity
“The way to happiness: Keep your heart free from hate, your mind from worry. Live simply, expect little, give much. Scatter sunshine, forget yourself, and think of others.” ~ Norman Vincent Peale I’m torn between two thoughts this week. Well, okay, I have a gazillion thoughts popping around up there among the noodles, but I […]
Utopia, Dystopia, and A Love of Life
“Every utopia – let’s just stick with the literary ones – faces the same problem: What do you do with the people who don’t fit in?” Margaret Atwood It’s true that the people who don’t fit in – the misfits – are often perceived as “different” by others. But sometimes they’re also the ones who […]
Hope, The Stuff of Dreams
“Hope is the thing with feathers – that perches in the soul – and sings the tunes without the words – and never stops at all.” – Emily Dickinson Those lines form one of my favorite stanzas by Dickinson or anyone really, not for the meter, the rhythm or the rhyme, not for the way […]
Off-season Workout, A Poem
Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it’s much more serious than that. – Bill Shankly Football and poetry have more in common than you might think. They’re both played on a field of sorts, each with its own specific rules, and each relies on teamwork. There’s a […]
What is Ron Koertge Writing For?
I didn’t grow up with some prized comic book collection, like one of the characters on Big Bang Theory might have, but I’ve always been a fan of superheroes. Still am. After spending a few years without television, I recently caught up on the final season of Smallville. That’s right. I admit it. And, yes, […]
Laughter, My Favorite Exercise
“Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.” – Victor Borge So many times, laughter has saved me. And some of my best friendships have been forged over laughter, some of the best moments in my life. Including times I’ve ended up laughing at myself. I hadn’t thought about that until the other night during […]
Who Are You, Really?
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” Ralph Waldo Emerson Most of us spend our entire lives in one body (at least I don’t think any full body transplants have been successful so far). Day after day after day, for as far back […]
The Writer’s Quest
“Say it, reader. Say the word ‘quest‘ out loud. It is an extraordinary word, isn’t it? So small and yet so full of wonder, so full of hope.” – Kate DiCamillo From the outside, quests seem exciting. They’re full of adventure, the unknown, danger, and heroic feats. From the inside, though, they can sometimes feel […]
For Love of Art
“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” – Thomas Merton I’ll admit this up front. I don’t know art lingo. I’m not familiar with technical traits that make a work of art a “masterpiece” aside from the way it makes me feel, and perhaps think, but mostly feel. Last […]
The Things We Learn From Kids
Not intending to downplay the words of wisdom my parents have shared with me over the years, but I recently realized that all you have to do is study a child to learn everything you’ll need to know about how to live. Truly live, that is. I’m not talking about elements of survival like how […]
![Mickey McKay & Frank Conifrey - Lenox Hill Settle't [i.e., Settlement]](http://lafayettewattles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/boxing-locb.jpg)
Friends
“Words are easy, like the wind; Faithful friends are hard to find.” ― William Shakespeare As a boy, even with best friends, there’s sometimes very little distance between a fist bump and a fist fight. At least that’s how it was for me growing up. When you’re seven, eight, even nine-years-old, it doesn’t take a […]
New Harmony Writer’s Retreat
“Creativity is contagious, pass it on” – Albert Einstein What a great thing to pass on! While I was in grad school I met (and made) a wonderful friend in fiction writer Terry Price. He’s the epitome of a Southern Gentleman: polite, kind, compassionate, and always ready to help others. I think I saw much […]
Writing Sample from Xero
“Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.” ~ Henry Ward Beecher Nearly the entire time I’ve worked on my Middle Grade novel The Short Bus, I’ve thought the story has had little do with me personally. Recently, however, I realized that it has everything to […]
Why Write Fiction?
“After the family broke, and when the house was about to sell, I walked around it for a last look. Under the eaves, on the ground, there was a path worn in the dirt, tight against the foundation — small padded feet, year after year, window to window.” (excerpt from the poem “Gray” by […]
Klutzy Me: Childhood Blunders and Other Disasters
“Never give a sword to a man who can’t dance.” – Confucius Believe it or not, I’ve actually been called a good dancer (no, not by the guy in the mirror), but I admit, I’m not someone you probably want to give a sword to . . . unless, you know, it’s time to wield […]
So Long 2013, Hello 2014
“Writing became such a process of discovery that I couldn’t wait to get to work in the morning: I wanted to know what I was going to say.” – Sharon O’Brien Well, 2013 is officially over and 2014 is already under way. I have to admit, 2013 certainly turned out a lot differently than how […]
The Gift of Generosity
Today I’m going to write briefly about Christmas and the Gift of Generosity. I don’t remember a lot about my childhood. I’m not sure why, I just don’t. Even less from my teen years. Perhaps, I’ve just tucked it all away somewhere. The events I recall most from my early years tend to be embarrassing […]
Family, Friends, and Our Stories: Continued
In the beginning, FAMILY is pretty much all we know. While we’re infants, they’re perceived as an extension of us (in regards, mostly, to how they meet or neglect our basic, inherent needs). Most of the early truths and discoveries we make are learned through our experiences with family. Our values, our beliefs and attitudes, […]
Family, Friends, and Our Stories
“Other things may change, but we start and end with family.” What is family? For some, it is the heart, the marrow, the soul. For others, the dragon, the demon, the darkness. If we’re lucky, family is a light that guides us toward our own light, the one inside us. I’m one of the lucky. […]
Giving Thanks
“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” – Thornton Wilder Thanksgiving is more than a time for gathering with family and friends, it’s a time for giving thanks. It’s a time for remembering. And for expressing gratitude. I have much to be thankful […]
What Is Elizabeth Wein Writing For?
Although I became “a reader” rather late, I’ve had the good fortune of encountering some truly wonderful books and remarkable authors whom I have enjoyed again and again over the past two decades. I only recently discovered Elizabeth Wein, however, and have just begun her acclaimed novel, Code Name Verity, which was recently voted #1 […]
In Defense of TV, Sort Of
“In my opinion, television validates existence.” – Calvin and Hobbes TV has been part of my life since the very beginning (not unlike children today who grow up with computers and social media). By the time I was a teenager, we were being warned about the dangers of television. In 1981 “children spent about 2 […]
Try a Little Tenderness
For the past week, one word has been creeping around in my head, popping up over and over and over. That word is TENDERNESS. Maybe it’s because my mom went away for a little while and I’ve had some time with my dad that I might not have taken otherwise. I know tenderness may not […]
A Thing Called Fear
“I’m not afraid of death; I just don’t want to be there when it happens.” – Woody Allen Fear. At a basic level, fear is an emotional response to a perceived threat. Essential, historically, to the survival of humanity. Yet a potential catalyst to the undoing of an individual. It should probably be noted that […]
A Different Point Of View
“It’s not denial. I’m just selective about the reality I accept.” ~ Calvin and Hobbes I guess you could say this is a post about truth, whatever that might be, which makes it about fact and reality (double ditto whatevers), which makes it a post about perception, really, a post about point of view. And […]
The Thing About Being Misunderstood
The first time, there were just three of them, my used-to-be-friends, with their wild hands latched onto my arms like vines imbued with dark magic, pulling me down to the earth; their fists turned into impossibly hard knots of bone, like so many dead stars crashing down from the sky against my head, shoulders, chest, […]
Practice
Dorianne Laux and Kim Addonizio write in the opening pages of their wonderful book, The Poet’s Companion: A Guide to the Pleasures of Writing Poetry, that 90% of what we do as writers is “practice.” Rather than contradict myself and spend several hours on a new blog post this week, I’m going to dedicate the […]
Second Chances
“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.” ~ Scott Adams There’s a common saying about life, how not everyone gets a second chance. Only, I wonder if maybe it should really be more like: “Not everyone takes their second chance.” Of course, that might be because we don’t […]
What Is Piers Anthony Writing For?
Piers Anthony has spent nearly SIX DECADES doing the one thing I want most to do – creating worlds and stories and characters that captivate readers. I’ve had the pleasure of exploring a number of those worlds having read several books from the Xanth series, as well as each of the books in the Incarnations […]
Art: A Knocking From Your Soul
“Art is when you hear a knocking from your soul — and you answer.” ~Terri Guillemets That’s so true. Especially when it comes to creating art. Of course, we’re also given an opportunity to connect with a deep down part of ourselves when we experience the art others have created which reminds of a quote […]
Dear Billy Collins
If you had uttered the word “POETRY” when I was a boy, I’d have probably run, sort of the way I would have reacted to the words FIRE or SNAKE or to the phrase WANNA KISS (though, as with poetry, I later came around regarding one of those, as well). English (now called Language Arts) […]
Remember Every Scar
“A little talent is good to have if you want to be a writer, but the only real requirement is the ability to remember every scar.” ~ Stephen King We all have scars: some physical, some mental, some emotional. Some are deep and dark, others superficial, others in between, but most leave their mark in […]
The Key Word Is Love
“Love. Fall in love and stay in love. Write only what you love, and love what you write. The key word is love. You have to get up in the morning and write something you love, something to live for.” – Ray Bradbury Here’s what I know about love – it might just be the […]
The Things That You Didn’t Do
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.” – Mark Twain Twain, who happens to be buried in the cemetery where I run (where I’ve created some of my favorite poems and young adult fiction), was certainly astute when he […]
What is Stuart Gibbs Writing For?
“It is never too late to be who you might have been.” George Eliot I admit it. I’m flat out and unabashedly envious of those writers who’ve always known this was their calling. Those people who’ve had a lifelong love affair not just with books and with words, but with storytelling. Back in May, I first […]
Dreams
“Writing is both mask and unveiling.” ~ E. B. White That quote seems to sum up one of the most rewarding byproducts of writing for me: the paradoxical duality of simultaneously concealing and revealing oneself. On one hand, I’ve spent a lifetime trying to be invisible. On the other hand, I’ve spent many of those […]
Events
RETREATING: I’m writing from Historic New Harmony, Indiana (I’m here taking part in the 2nd Annual Extraordinary Time Writer’s Retreat)! Look, any chance I get to be in New Harmony with my computer (and, especially, with a notebook and pen), is one I welcome with unbridled exuberance. I’ve been to very few places that emanate the […]
Residencies, Retreats, and R.A. Salvatore
Last week I mentioned that one of the best things I ever did for myself as a writer was attending an artist residency at Ucross. Today I’ll explain WHY that was so important and I’ll also mention two other things I’ve done that have been life-changing, especially for the writer in me. Though some are […]
The Gift of Time
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” – Mary Oliver It’s one thing to “plan” to follow your dream with “your one wild and precious life” (which might just be the hardest thing to do, really, considering all the pressure you’ll probably face to do everything […]
Stories I Inherited
“What we see depends mainly on what we look for.” – John Lubbock There are two small scenes in my favorite novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, that reveal a truth I had never contemplated until I was in my twenties: how we tend to see the people in our lives who were here before us […]
The Birth of a Story
At first, I thought this blog might be about the journey of writing a novel from start to finish. You know, a log so to speak about what it’s like to build Xero’s novel from the first word up, then try to get it published (which is one of my intentions for him). Only I […]
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Did you always want to be a writer? A: Not a chance! As I mentioned on my ABOUT page, I never read my first poem, short-story, novel (and so on) outside of an English class until I was twenty-six years old. I didn’t have the patience to sit own long enough to read a […]
Write Side Up
Write Side Up seemed like the perfect name for this blog because it’s taken me a lifetime to get here, but this thing, writing, is me finally getting it right. It’s the first thing I’ve ever done that allows me to just be all me all the time. It’s me doing what I believe I’m […]