Sophfronia’s Blog
Kind Words
A blog about what I find amazing, smart, beautiful, or just plain fun.
Writing to Reach a Broader Audience
If you're on Twitter and a lover of books you've probably come across #LitChat, the popular discussion about books and their authors that takes place twice a week. Recently LitChat's founder, Carolyn Burns Bass, asked me to be a guest host on the chat discussing what I feel are some [...]
Can Creative Writing Be Taught to You?
I allowed the little black arrow to hover over the big blue SEND button a moment or two longer before I finally clicked on it. I’d read my critique of the essay multiple times to ensure my points were clear and the overall tone was convivial and encouraging. I’d met [...]
Creativity Playdate: City Island, New York City
This week: an unexpected creativity playdate. I drove a friend and her family to JFK International Airport and as we passed through the Bronx, I pointed out the signs to City Island, a tiny island neighborhood, 1.5 miles long, jutting out into the westernmost point of Long Island Sound. I said, [...]
A Grateful Writing Life
I am waiting. It’s a common activity for writers. You work on a piece of writing. You finish it. You send it somewhere. You send it to a reader for feedback, you send it to a literary journal for possible publication, or you send it to a literary agent for [...]
Toni Morrison and Me
I tend to talk about Toni Morrison with a cautious blitheness. I mention how we share the same hometown, Lorain, Ohio, but even that’s a scary thing to do. Why would I want to invite comparisons to a Nobel and Pulitzer prizewinning author? Such a thought would send most writers [...]
What’s Literary Citizenship?
What does it mean to be a literary citizen? The word "citizen" implies living somewhere and in this case we're talking about taking up residence in the literary world. I like Cathy Day's answer. She's the author of two books: Comeback Season: How I Learned to Play the Game of Love (Free [...]
Loving What You Write
I was walking around my yard in a bit of a daze. The day before I had finished the novel revision I’d been working on for months. Like the crazy woman I am, instead of resting I was trying to organize my thoughts for the next novel. But I felt [...]
Who’s Afraid of Writing?
In honor of Halloween I’m addressing the ghostly presence that haunts all writers: the blank screen/page. I haven’t thought about this specter for a while because I’ve spent the past few months submerged in a novel revision. However, last week I hit the SEND button, delivered the book to my [...]
