7/19/10 -- "We do not write what we know; we write what we want to find out." -- Wallace Stegner, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Angle of Repose. Writing, then, as exploration. I agree, at least in theory. Still, some days the exploring feels mo...

7/16/10 -- First rule of writing: Apply sitter to seat of chair. Second rule: Don't get up until actual progress has been made. (Note: this does not include answering email, or checking FaceBook, or surfing the Web, or falling back asleep.) Ergo: ...

7/14/10 -- Remember carpe diem, Latin for seize the day? Saw a fun riff on that in Portland at Powell's, the famous independent bookstore -- carpe librum, seize the book. Don't know if Powell's coined the twist, but whoever did, I love it.

7/12/10 -- Family reunion time in SC and KY is over, and Debbie and I are back in Oregon. An ascent of Mt. Jefferson with my climbing buddies was on the calendar, but rapidly warming temperatures in the Cascades destabilized the heavy snowpack. So...

6/25/10 -- I've been away from internet connections for a while, which in this day and age is unusual. (A good thing or a bad thing? Depends on your mood, I guess.) Spent Father's Day weekend at Smith Rock State Park climbing with my strong daught...

6/15/10 -- The writer as eavesdropper. At a restaurant I overheard a group of diners talking about their health: "Diverticulitis, too. I'm falling apart." And eating habits: "My daughter-in-law uses no salt on her mashed potatoes!" The neighborhoo...

6/10/10 -- I woke up around 3:00 AM this morning and starting thinking. Not a good thing, thinking in the middle of the night. Unless you are a writer and by thinking at 3:00 AM you solve the mystery of what's been puzzling you about your novel. M...

6/7/10 -- Opened the mailbox yesterday to find an Advance Reader's Copy (aka ARC) of STORM MOUNTAIN. It will go out to reviewers. (Keeping my fingers crossed on that.) Official publication date of the hardcover version is October 15. What was once...

6/4/10 -- Finished the work week with a good writing day. Will start the weekend with a good writing day. And top off the weekend with a good writing day. Yep, lots of wordsmithing to do. But in the meantime, the sun is shining and it's time for a...

6/1/10 -- After a long weekend in the wide open, spectacular spaces of Malheur Wildlife Refuge . . .. . . my mind seems a little less scattered. Nothing like the wonders of the natural world to bring life into focus.Now if I can just apply that fo...

5/28/10 -- Finished an editing project yesterday, and today I'm clearing my desk and getting back into REVENGE OF THE MUTANT UNDERWEAR. Oh, and packing for a weekend trip to Eastern Oregon for some desert time. Hiking and mountain biking are on th...

5/24/10 -- Editing today, and repeating the mantra: Show, don't tell. Show, don't tell. Show, don't tell.

5/22/10 -- "I like to hear and smell the countryside, the land my characters inhabit. I don't want these characters to step off the page. I want them to step out of the landscape." -- Author Peter Matthieson, as quoted in today's The Writer's Alma...

5/20/10 -- Today I was at Iroquois Community School in Des Plaines, IL for their Young Author's Conference. It is a K-8 school, which is unusual these days. (Most I visit are K-5 for elementary, 6-8 for middle schools.) Great kids, and super suppo...

5/18/10 -- 30 years ago today (5/18/80) Mt. St. Helens erupted, and is still a hot number. 36 years ago today (5/18/74) Debbie and I got married. We're still a hot number, too!

5/17/10 -- Back in Oregon, until Wednesday morning when I head for Des Plaines, IL and my last author visit of the 2009-2010 school year. There is already much in the works for next year, though. The calendar is filling up fast! Let me know asap i...

5/14/10 -- I had a great day with the kids at Maloney Interdistrict Magnet school in Waterbury, Ct. Many thanks to Sue Wiehn for inviting me!

5/13/10 -- Up early and waiting at the Portland airport for a flight to Chicago, then on to Connecticut. School visit tomorrow in Waterbury. But first, writing work to do on the plane. Actually, first I've got to wake up . . .

5/11/10 -- Skyped with @ 100 first and second graders at Neff Elementary School in Lancaster, PA today. Host librarian Janet Anderson did a great job with the technology end of things. Kids were fantastic, and had well thought-out questions. Spent...

5/10/10 -- Three weekends in a row I've had the good fortune to be out in the mountains. This last time was a special treat -- Debbie got to go, too! We snowshoed into a cabin just below timberline on the northeast side of Mt Hood. Originally a ra...