Do you ever have that feeling that there’s just too much going on? No, of course not, she says (wink-wink). This summer hit me like a Mack truck, and the grace in it was that I was so focused on two weeks in July–my week at NPM in Cincinnati and our trip to Colorado last week–that I…
Read MoreAll articles filed in writing
The Couple That Plays Together…
I’ve heard people say that wallpapering is a test of a marriage. I think they should try critiquing each other’s creative work. Christian has always been my earliest set of eyes on a piece of music, and unlike most people, he’s never felt inhibited about telling me exactly what’s wrong with it. In the early…
Read MoreI. Hate. Waiting.
Sometimes you have no choice but to wait…& wait…& wait. No matter how much you hate it. @Liguori_Pub #JoyToTheWorld
Read MoreWhen you are completely blank…
…you lead with a big congratulations to the Cubs and their devoted fans! It’s been harder and harder to come up with blog posts lately, because I’m trying to figure out what I have to say that people actually want to hear. It’s become such a block for me that last Thursday, I forgot about blogging…
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Of Mammograms and a Rising Star
I am trying to figure out how to open this post with something snappy that will make everyone click through, and I’m coming up blank. There are weeks when all you can do is put your head down and charge through. But I realize it’s pretty whiny to call what I experienced the past seven…
Read MoreNothin’ But a Teeny Bit of News…
(Not that I’m excited or anything!…..)
Read MoreRoller Coasters
First comes the idea. That electrifying, spark-you-wide-awake-no-matter-how-tired-you-are nugget of a concept that tells you you’ve hit the jackpot. It seems so crystal-clear, so obvious, like you could start writing this very moment. But then you realize you don’t have the foggiest idea what the details surrounding that concept are. So you start brainstorming. And you…
Read More#AmWriting: More “Extreme Adventure” Than “Holy Grail”
When I first started writing, I had this vision of how it would be. In my mind’s eye, the whole concept was shrouded in a beatific glow. It wasn’t that I expected to spend all my writing time wrapped in that glow—it was just that the idea itself took on the attributes of a holy grail.…
Read MoreFamily Game Night In the Wake of a Successful Writing Contest
We have a tradition of family game night in our house. Actually, “tradition” is a little strong. We made a commitment to devote Friday nights to this purpose, but our success rate is about 40-50%. (AKA “better than nothing!”) It’s supposed to be a no-technology night. But the kids have been begging for a “family…
Read MoreOff Making Music
Item 1: Time plus focus = momentum, the anti-writer’s block. Item 2: I have neither time nor excessive amounts of focus. Net Result: I frequently feel a frustrating lack of inspiration when writing music, even though I feel more alive when I write music than with anything else I do. It is, perhaps, divine irony that…
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Kathleen M. Basi 