The historian tells you what happened.
The novelist will tell you what it felt like.
-E.L. Doctorow
Across oceans and centuries, my novels follow characters changed by events as drastic as a plague or as small as a thought. I love history, especially those periods, like the sixteenth century, that changed man’s entire way of thinking.
My stories are important, but so are yours. I founded the Village Writing School to teach people how to write their stories in the most engaging way. When I’m speaking at a conference on the power of words or teaching a workshop on subtext, I’m thinking how important some of the stories in that audience may be.
Beyond writing and teaching, I try to be a good person because the greatest act of creation is to fashion a beautiful life.
Choose Strength
One year ago today, I arrived in Italy with my mom and Prose in tow to begin . . . something. I really didn’t know if it would be a new life, a great adventure, or a total fiasco. In many ways, I still don’t. Symbolically, we left Arkansas on September 19, my...
Religion in Memoir
Last Sunday, I visited Savonarola in Florence. I'm really not a fan of his, but I wanted to think about this whole topic of a change of faith. So I went to visit the plaque that marks the spot where Savonarola was burned by the Florentines on May 23, 1498. Although...
Do We Have The Courage?
Have you ever thought you'd like to tell your story? As I think about writing a memoir about the past year and the crazy change of course I took after the most ridiculous divorce in history, I find I have a lot of doubts. Do any of these feel familiar? Have similar...