The Best Game for Writers (and Emerging Writers)

This, by the by, is a "writing spider". I didn't know there was such a thing. 

Oh, this is priceless--so many of the things on this game board happened to me and people I know, from crisis of confidence to book deal. Enjoy--and keep on writing! After all, I scored 42 points, was dubbed a William Shakespeare, a writer for the ages. Somehow, I think everyone gets that score, eventually--go ahead, have fun!
http://graphics.latimes.com/how-to-be-a-writer/?tw_name=Electric+Literature&tw_screen_name=ElectricLit&tw_source=twitter

Yikes! Earthquakes All the Time!

Since an earthquake figures in my book "Shaketown", I was curious as to the magnitude of the earthquakes I clearly remember since moving to California with my parents. The 1906 quake was a 7.8, and it was centered not far from where I live now, in Marin County (you can still see the parting of the ground out there in Olema). The first shaker I remember was in 1957, centered in Daly City, a mere 5.3. My family lived in the valley then, and a few things fell off the shelves, but no big deal. The next big one WAS a big one--7.9 centered in Santa Rosa. I was in San Francisco ushering for the musical "Hair" of all things. Ushers were banished to the third tier of the balcony after doing their jobs, and as the place began to shake, the  giant chandelier hanging from the ceiling began to sway, raining dust on everyone. Panic? Yep. Some clear-headed fellow shouted "calm down", and probably saved us all from a trampling rush to the door. I should add that the actress on the stage continued to gamely sing "Easy to be Hard" during all this. What a trooper!
In 1984, the 6.2 Morgan Hill 'quake caught me on the fifth floor of landfill in Emeryville. Out the window, the tall, thin light-posts in the parking lot were whipping back and forth like silvery licorice sticks in a storm.
I was at work in Sausalito during the 6.9 Loma Prieta, and though it knocked me and a co-worker to the floor and took out all the streetlights and electricity for several hours,  I was surprised at the damage it did, and the heavy, sad feelings that stayed for more than a week. Someone told me "vapors" were released from the earth. I don't know about that, but the collapse of the freeway and bridge, and the poor folks who died there surely affected us all.
But it's shaking all the time; take a look at this if you don't think so: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_California
Time to check the earthquake kit...

Something happened....

I'm not quite sure what. After waffling for the last few years about continuing writing as opposed to some other creative outlet, I'm suddenly infused with new life--as a writer. Maybe it was the tarot cards telling me I had not made a sufficient commitment to learning what I needed in order to move forward as a writer (it's a constant growth process, and like all growth, has built-in pain). Or now that the process of getting the novel published and dealing with marketing has subsided, I'm in an easier place. I don't know.
Anyone who has written a novel knows how incredibly dogged the production of it is--and historical novels not only require story-telling, but good research skills (and editing, editing, editing). Since I spent so much time going over and over Shaketown; the Madam's Daughter before its publication, I spent little or no time actually delving into the mysterious activity of letting ideas and memories flow from my brain to the page. Without that, the real pleasure of writing for me--the marveling of the power and beauty of words, the act of actually creating a mental picture using them--simply wasn't happening.
I picked up Ursula LeGuin's book on writing, Steering the Craft, which is a compendium of her lectures on the topic. Is it the best book on writing I've ever read? No, but I love her strong opinions, and there are gems. One of the first exercises brought me back to my senses, literally: a short paragraph using onomatopoeia (words that sound like what they describe, such as "boom!"), alliteration (repetition of sounds), repetition, made-up words, whatever--just be gorgeous. This is what I wrote:
Spring: shimmer, shatter, soften, sink and flow. Icey thin, sun-softened snow responds to pond below. Weakened, web-woven, wanting oneness sinking into sparkle sparkle sparkle land-lapping glow.

You try it....