happy winter, everyone

(Photo by Steve Rawley) notes and a fast hello from me… are you interested in Siberian ice drummers? pretty coooooool. 😉 We finished my Grandma’s cookbook awhile back — makes a lovely holiday gift. And the price is right. Here’s a sample recipe: CHOCOLATE VOLCANO CAKE 8 x 8 inch pan 350 degree oven 1 …

Hey. We wrote a new book!

Did I mention that already? It’s my Grandma Dorton’s memoir/cookbook, and I say “we” because it’s her words, our recipes, Steve’s sharp editing, design and technical know-how. Buy a copy or two — this makes a good gift. Enjoy, and bon appetit, babies. — Nancy

a photo, a poem, and a new manuscript

(Photo by Steve Rawley) A Hope Carol by Christina Rossetti A night was near, a day was near, Between a day and night I heard sweet voices calling clear, Calling me: I heard a whirr of wing on wing, But could not see the sight; I long to see my birds that sing, I long …

QOTD: David Simon

(Photo by Steve Rawley) “Anything I’ve ever accomplished as a writer, as somebody doing TV, anything I’ve ever done in life, down to, like, cleaning up my room, has been accomplished because I was going to show people that they were fucked up, wrong, and that I was the fucking center of the universe and …

on writing/not writing + a photo

(Photo by Steve Rawley) Don’t feel like writing. I’m back to teaching (although I’m on winter break right now) and when I’m teaching, I’m just not into writing. When I’m writing, I’m not into teaching. So there you have it. Journals, always. Blogs, occasionally. Facebook? Too much. What’s up in your world? — nancy

“Ambition,” by David Whyte

(Photo by Steve Rawley) “Ambition is frozen desire, the current of a vocational life immobilized and over concretized to set, unforgiving goals. Ambition abstracts us from the underlying elemental nature of the creative conversation while providing us the cover of a target that has become false through over description, over familiarity or too much easy …

playlist for my Grandma

Did you notice how Josh Turner flips upside down briefly in that clip? Not all of us are gifted at production, just sayin’. More on that later. So. Writing. Writing is not that tough, if you know how to do it. Which I don’t, really, but that’s not the point. Writer’s block? Yeah, I’ve heard …

Fall is coming on… boo!

It was chilly last week. The mornings and late evenings are getting cooler; it’s getting dark earlier. I don’t need to water the yard or the garden as much — the tomatoes and melons are ripening and the flowers and herbs are established and holding their own. I wanted to warm up and couldn’t find …