
PSA: Do not assume that benign neglect is a good strategy for maintaining a website. After over a year of not posting anything (!) and getting around to updating articles and interviews (and sadly deleting many past their sell date links), I was shocked recently to discover that my beautiful design had disappeared and some… Continue Reading
On a whim, I recently combed through my bookshelves and gathered together all the print books, anthologies and journals I have contributed to in some way: either as writer/ editor, beta reader, Kickstarter donor or friend. Some authors kindly added my name to the acknowledgements, which came as a pleasant surprise. The book I… Continue Reading
I read this piece at the Octopus Literary Salon at an event that paired published authors with emerging writers. I wrote it in response to my partner’s piece, which touched on smoking, the wind, being young and making mistakes. I didn’t know right away how to respond, so I looked out the window and listened.… Continue Reading
I did this last year and it helped me see that I had been slightly more productive than I thought. Let’s see what happened this past year in my writing life… A look back at what I wrote in 2018: A number of pieces for Retrospect, which are listed on my Articles and Interviews page… Continue Reading
November 21st is Martha’s birthday. She’s been gone several years now. Her birthday still pops up on my Google calendar. I don’t intend to do anything to change it.Seeing this reminder of her birthday gives me the opportunity to celebrate her life and our friendship every November. (This was originally posted in 2013) As… Continue Reading
I’m copying (stealing?) this idea from a new author friend, Erika Mailman. In a year where it felt like I didn’t do much writing, it’s good to look back and see what I actually did. It felt like a rather unproductive year, writing-wise, but the evidence shows it wasn’t as unproductive as I thought. For… Continue Reading
Several years ago, I wrote articles about the craft of writing for Hippocampus Magazine. This is one of them, which came to mind this morning as I was reading a book about writing. I sometimes wonder, as I’m reading, why a writer has chosen to highlight a particular incident in an essay or a memoir.… Continue Reading
When I entered the MFA program at Saint Mary’s College in 2009, I had some serious doubts and fears: would I be able to produce any work worth reading? Would I fit in with the other students who were decades younger? Would I be able to form relationships with faculty, something that eluded me in… Continue Reading
This was quite a week for Risa Nye, Writer. I had two pieces in EatDrinkFilms, and one in Berkeleyside this week. In case you missed them, despite my best efforts to broadcast through social media, here they are: If you are a fan of “The Princess Bride,” I think you’ll enjoy learning about the new… Continue Reading