Writing

Is There Soul In Your Grammar?

“To know how near or far each soul is from its goal, the indicator is speech.” – Nachman of Bratzlav I’m sure most of you remember the best classes you’ve ever taken in your lifetime. I bet few of you list “grammar class” as one of them. As a writer, I’m always striving to improve [...]

September 14, 2010 CONTINUE READING →

From Cupcakes to Mosaics: Some Poetry for the People

Who would have thought poetry possible? Certainly not me, the business writer, the essay creator, the creative journalist at heart and by practice. But alas, our writing evolves and it should. Poetry is groovy and we all can do it. Not long ago, I took Sage Cohen’s Poetry for the People course – an fascinating [...]

September 10, 2010 CONTINUE READING →

Creative Juicy Ideas Needed: The Ecuador Project

Not long ago, I visited Ecuador on a short holiday. I spent my time hiking, horse-back riding interviewing and hanging out with locals, trying to perfect my mediocre Spanish. As with all of my adventures, I met so many great people along the way. One of them was Mignon Plaza, who owns and runs Hacienda [...]

August 20, 2010 CONTINUE READING →

From The Afghan Women’s Writing Project: I Am For Sale, Part II

During the past few weeks, I’ve been volunteering as a writing mentor for the Afghan Women’s Writing Project. The experience has been no less than amazing. As many of you know, I’ve been actively vocal about AWWP, featured an interview with founder Masha Hamilton last year and re-posted (with permission) “I Am For Sale, Who [...]

August 4, 2010 CONTINUE READING →

The Creative Scavenger Hunt: What Did You Discover This Week?

I love to find “treasures.” Hidden treasures, not so hidden ones, ones that no one else understands but me. Sometimes when I travel, I put together my own Creative Scavenger Hunt – a few simple goals for guiding discoveries on my trips. But I recently realized that we don’t have to go far to find [...]

July 9, 2010 CONTINUE READING →

All Books Are Not Created Equal, or, Why I Wanted To Be A Pig Wearing A Bonnet

This is a guest post from brilliant friend Josh Hanagarne, author of the fabulous World’s Strongest Librarian. I’m psyched to include yet another one of Josh’s brilliant and, well, hilarious posts here on TJCC. Many thanks to Josh for helping me stay on my reading and writing toes. My parents started reading to me before [...]

June 25, 2010 CONTINUE READING →

And The Winner Is…

We have a winner! Frank Mundo‘s The Brubury Tales signed copy giveaway goes to June Goodwin! Last week, as a part of the contest, we asked readers about the role reading plays in their lives. We received a range of diverse, creative comments from readers and writers alike. Frank and I are both excited to [...]

June 25, 2010 CONTINUE READING →

On Historical Backdrops, The Red Tent and The Brubury Tales Giveaway

Weaving elements of history into writing, whether through stories or style, is undeniably a skill of brilliant magicians. I have three copies of The Red Tent. One I bought for myself. The second was from a friend who went to an author reading and sent me a signed copy from Anita Diamant. No idea where [...]

June 19, 2010 CONTINUE READING →