Yesterday in NYC there was a memorial service for Madeleine L’Engle. She is my writing hero. In honor of her I am going to post here a few quotes from her book, “Walking On Water”, the most incredible book I have ever read on art and writing. From pg. 18, Walking on Water: Obedience is […]
We went to see Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium last night. It is a magical movie, filled with creative truth. If you haven’t seen it yet, RUN don’t walk to the theater! And look for my son’s name, John Caleb Monroe (Assistant to Mr. Helm) in the credits.
This morning when I looked out at the lake the sky was reflected so perfectly in the water that I could even see the shadows in the clouds. The lake looked exactly like the sky-exactly. For this to happen the water has to be especially calm and peaceful… the way we need to be to reflect the glory of […]
While I was in Chicago my Mom and I visited the Chicago Institute of art. There is just nothing like seeing paintings in person. There is a life and spirit there that isn’t in a print or photo of the painting. What is it? I heard a mom say once that the difference between the […]
I left this comment on a fellow writer’s blog: I can now say that I have been writing professionally for about 17 years. In spite of the fact that I have had seven books published, numerous articles, have been paid for my writing, and have even won a couple of small awards, it hasn’t, for me, […]
We surprised my daughter with a pug puppy today. She was at lunch with a neighbor and I called her and asked if we could drop by her house and wait inside till she got home. We took the puggy in and all his puppy supplies and let him play while we waited for her to get home. The puppy was pretty shy with my […]
Okay, so yesterday I got up at dark-thirty to make a very early flight. I arrived at my brother’s house and spent the day playing with two delightful toddlers and guess what…I’m really tired this morning. So I’m asking myself today; How do I make tired work for me? Since I usually have a hard […]
In relationships, as in most other things in this world, the only thing we can control is ourselves. We can love someone, full out, no holds barred, be careful to give them space and room to grow, know them so well that we can anticipate, then do our best to meet their needs, but how our […]
Rest is not wasting time. It is a necessary part of getting yourself ready for what comes next. It is the place where ideas and energy gather and brew; the sleeping seed in the dark soil poised for germination.
We went for a ride today. The fall colors are at their peak…so we went to peek. It was amazing! There were bright yellow and red trees decorating the green hillsides like lights on a Christmas tree. I told my husband that the mountains looked like giant sleeping bears. I wanted to reach out and stroke their […]
Most evenings when the sun is getting ready to climb into bed I get into my little yellow Ripper kayak and paddle out to a place where I can watch the sunset. The water is usually quiet then, the breeze often soft. To get to my spot I have to head straight into the eye-squinting sunlight, straight down a golden water-path of […]
Even on my days off I find myself making a mental list of everything I want to get done…everything I should get done. I think on the top of that list should be the words: 1. Be still Not for a minute, or a second, but for long enough to get past just catching my […]
“You walk into a restaurant. Your job is to figure out how old the restaurant is but you are not allowed to ask any questions. What can you do?” I ask this question when I am taking groups through the Creative Problem Solving process. I get all kinds of answers, things like; look at the […]
On many days a haze covers the mountains in the distance. They become all gray and shrouded and it is hard to see how beautiful they are. In fact, sometimes the air is so thick I can’t see them at all. But after a thunder storm the air clears and I can see the bright […]
I just blogged three metaphors to describe the lake I live on. But I liked them, so I cut and copied them to my writing file. I want to save them for my next middle grade novel. Did I say “next novel”? In the midst of writing Silent Glades I was like a woman in labor. The waiting, […]
Robin Prince Monroe 