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Get Inspired by Architecture, #3 Start With What You Love
By Mary Rakow, Ph.D. A friend texts this photo of a bookstore in Seoul. I love the audacity of it. The architecture saying, “Who says bookstores are dead?!” The audacious joy! It’s gorgeous! I wonder who designed it. Online I learn it’s not a bookstore but a library in Starfield COEX, the largest underground…
Read MoreHer muse laughed, then came tough love
By Lisa Tener Even the most prolific of writers can get stuck. Elizabeth Bohorquez has written and published over 400 CD programs, articles and books. And since childhood she derived both creative inspiration and strength from her muse. “My muse has been sitting by my side throughout my life—inspiring my writing and quiet contemplation in…
Read MoreTHE CITY IS OUR WRITING: Our Work Needs Fast and Slow
By Mary Rakow As writers we learn to juggle opposites in our work: extravagance and minimalism, large and small, story and plot. And we have to juggle fast and slow. Our work needs both because, to be art, it has to bear witness to the complexity of human life. And to its beauty. Most of…
Read MoreTHE CITY IS OUR WRITING TEACHER: Extravagance Reminds Us Who we Are
By Mary Rakow I’m waiting to get a haircut at Atelier Emanuel in that time before Covid and in the lobby they’ve installed this completely over the top mannequin with this completely over the top hair. It isn’t that anyone’s going to walk out of the salon looking like this. But it’s an idea that…
Read More27 Reasons to Write a Book and How to Finally Make it Happen
By Lisa Tener Do you want to write a book? How long have you wanted to write it? Will you be crying in your pajamas on Dec. 31, 2022 if it doesn’t happen? Okay, then, let’s do our very best to get that book written and keep your PJ’s dry come New Years. How? One…
Read MoreINSPIRED BY ART: Silence Inspires our Writing
INTRODUCTION I love this painting because Kiefer, born in Germany, right before the end of WW II, is always asking the biggest questions. Something that is also our mandate as writers, whether we are writing a children’s book, a sci-fi thriller, a memoir or a short lyric. It is our duty to honor our human…
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