http://www.lauriejunkins.com the writing blog of Laurie Junkins Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:28:01 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Yep, I've been neglecting you, dear blog readers. Given my mood, it's something of a miracle that I'm posting now, but I want to get the devil off my shoulder. The one who is whispering that if I don't post soon, I'm going to lose every reader I have and ... http://www.lauriejunkins.com/2010/02/learning-as-i-go/ It's currently about eleven degrees in New Jersey, and I am freezing to death. My house is 116 years old and has its original windows. Even with the storm windows (circa 1960s), the freezing air comes through the glass. Our furnace isn't keeping up and it's only 60 degrees in ... http://www.lauriejunkins.com/2010/01/creative-surge/ I'm imagining that you all are out there tapping your fingers on your computer screens impatiently awaiting my next post here, since it's been so long.  Such imaginings give away my tendency to think I'm the center of the universe. Well, I AM the center of my own universe, after ... http://www.lauriejunkins.com/2010/01/birthday-month-mom-and-a-basset-hound/ Oh hello, all you lovely people who are here from Poetry Hut Blog and Avoiding the Muse. Nice to have you. That turned out to be a pretty interesting discussion in the comments on the MFA post. You should go read them if you haven't already. And how nice to ... http://www.lauriejunkins.com/2010/01/randomness/ Homegirl Kelly was writing on her blog the other day about the past decade in terms of her growth as a writer, and it sent me back to my own early days as a writer. I've been writing seriously since high school, but only decided to focus on poetry about ... http://www.lauriejunkins.com/2010/01/to-mfa-or-not-to-mfa/ I've been on "vacation" for nearly a week now, and boy has it been great. I've given myself permission not to do any writing if I don't feel like it, and so far I haven't. Mostly what I've been doing is working my way through the stack of books that's ... http://www.lauriejunkins.com/2009/12/best-christmas-card-ever/ I spent most of the weekend writing chapter one of the New! Improved! Funny! Memoir! Totally cracked myself up. Enjoyed it thoroughly. Told some great stories and poked fun at myself all the way through. Sent it to my critiquers, feeling mostly good about it. And here's why they are such ... http://www.lauriejunkins.com/2009/12/urk/ I just had the hugest epiphany. I was sitting on my couch, and I started to read a book, and then some sort of massive neural solar flare thingie happened in my brain and suddenly everything I've been struggling with in terms of the memoir became clear. Absolutely, sparklingly clear, ... http://www.lauriejunkins.com/2009/12/all-that-other-stuff-never-mind/ I am having an unprecedented surge in writing productivity lately. I attribute it to three things: 1. the remarkable successes of my two inspirational writing buddies, Tanya Chernov and Kelly Davio, who are cranking out the manuscripts faster than I can say to my kids, "Put some socks on, it's ... http://www.lauriejunkins.com/2009/12/you_decide/ When I did NaNo, I had every intention of keeping up the 2000 word per day pace and finishing the first draft of my memoir by the end of December. Ok, maybe January 15. You know, taking a week off for Christmas and New Year.  Well, I'm here to tell ... http://www.lauriejunkins.com/2009/12/december/