“I wish I could read your travel journals,” a friend once told me. “I bet they’re amazing.” I changed the subject. Fast. She’d be so disappointed with my journals. They are filled with clichéd lines like, “the view was breathtaking” or “the mountains were beautiful.” I’m a hard-core traveler. I like to see and do...
Tag: art
I’m Sorry, But I’m Not Embarrassed
In my industry, there’s been a lot of talk about Ruth Graham’s article in Slate suggesting that adults should be embarrassed to read young adult titles. Never mind the slights to YA authors, let’s look at what else she says: She argues that adults should challenge themselves with a higher form of literature and leave...
What To Do When Your Life is Filled with Stupid People
My daughter called Tuesday night in a panic. She is competing this week at a national speech and debate tournament and had encountered a judge whose behavior was shockingly unprofessional. He would watch thirty seconds of a performance, scrawl a nasty note like, “I hate it,” on his notepad, and then play on his phone...
Are We Artists or Salesmen?
There’s never been a more interesting or a more challenging time to be an artist. So many new avenues have opened up to us and choosing the arts as a profession is no longer looked down upon (at least not as heavily as it once was). But now, with so many of us working or...
Good-bye Maya and Luana
Yesterday I heard the news that the incomparable Maya Angelou had passed away at age 86. Later that afternoon, I received word that one of my longtime writer friends had been killed in a car accident. When Maya read her poem On the Pulse of the Morning at Bill Clinton’s inauguration, a whole nation listened...
Art Nights – Great Ideas Giveaway Series
Yesterday I attended the awards ceremony for my daughter’s speech and debate team. They had a stellar year, and I most enjoyed watching the video, which showed talented kids working hard to win, but also creating memories as a team. As artists we often work in isolation. As entrepreneurs, we handle every aspect of our...
Art Amidst the Tumbleweeds
Just returned from a school visit with my good friend and fellow author Natasha Wing. We drove nearly four hours through sagebrush and tumbleweeds to reach the small town of Eads, Colorado, where we were greeted with much fanfare. The children and the art teacher had made posters and hung them throughout the school and...
Is This a Good Title?
When it comes to creativity, why do some things come so easily and others seem so very hard? Why do certain great ideas seem to pop out of nowhere, while others take months to form? Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a scientific formula we could apply to ideation: get 8.4 hours of sleep,...
You’re Only a Starving Artist if You Choose to Be
I often find myself reassuring friends whose children want to go into the arts that their kids will not starve, nor will they ask for support for the rest of their lives. I know dozens of artists – writers, singers, filmmakers, visual artists, actors – and none of them are starving. Few of them ask...