Summer 2022: I’ve written two novels and a full-length play during the ‘first’ two years of COVID! Many artist friends also found that more time and solitude led to meaningful work. My NY agent is exploring options for one of the novels – a story set in 1920’s Minnesota. A future project I hope comes to fruition is a full production of my play, which is about families, facing chronic illness, and artistic passion.
And I’m hugely enjoying teaching remote writing workshops through the City’s Friendship Center and Winona State University’s Retiree Center. Stay safe and happy, everyone!
The process of writing fascinates me. It is a means for me to explore the many characters, places, stories and themes that my imagination mysteriously conceives. The fact that writing, or any creative process, has that mysterious component is one of the joys of life. I believe a relationship between self and landscape comes from an elemental connection with the earth that all persons have; this sense of place heavily influences my writing.
Also, as a writer, one of my fundamental goals is to be a witness; this concept is at the core of keeping the language active and moving my narrative forward through the journey of the characters. In this way, the reader and the writer are both witnesses to the story. A novel is a contract between the writer and reader, a communication that is, hopefully, intensely personal for both.