by Lisa Marlin | Mar 21, 2015 | Blog, Parenting, Writing
Some of my best words to my children wind up in the trash, covered in the smears of messy mouths and runny noses. Wadded up and tossed out – but not wasted – these words are loving in the moment they are written and encouraging in the moment they are read. Mostly....
by Lisa Marlin | Mar 7, 2015 | Blog, Writing
I used to live on a busy street, a main thoroughfare for our town. I told my friends that if they drove by and my grass looked green and my garden was blooming, it meant I hadn’t been writing because I was maintaining my yard instead. Where I live now we hire a lawn...
by Lisa Marlin | Mar 1, 2015 | Blog, Writing
After printing the 194 pages of the first draft of my novel, I broke it into 27 chapters – some are too long and a few are too short, but Chapter 4 is just the right length and also makes a better Chapter 1 so I made that switch. I’ve got a working title (to be...
by Lisa Marlin | Jan 20, 2015 | Blog, Writing
On November 1, 2014, I joined thousands of writers worldwide who pledged to take part in National Novel Writing Month by penning a 50,000-word novel in 30 days. I’m pleased to report that I completed the challenge in 79 days with 62,541 words. I did not fail by going...
by Lisa Marlin | Dec 4, 2014 | Blog, Writing
(The following essay was written, saved and closed, April 14, 2014; resurrected, revised and posted, December 4, 2014) Is it possible for a character to live in the minds of two authors who have never crossed paths? Or is that as preposterous as one child being born...
by Lisa Marlin | Nov 30, 2014 | Blog, Running, Writing
I crossed two finish lines this week, though neither meant the end of anything. The first was at the four mile marker of the Denver Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day. I didn’t win any prizes, coming in 4428 out of about 10,000 racers. Undaunted, I will keep running...