Donna's Muse Papers

Writing distraction in my front yard I live in a writer’s retreat. Really, I do. I rent a house located on a 200 acre farm with woods on two sides, a cow pasture in front and a little field and a pond out back. Every window has a pretty view. My writing desk faces a wall of windows overlooking the pasture and woodlands. Deer, fox, coyote, ground hogs, squirrels and an occasional raccoon parade through my front yard on a regular basis. I should be a lot more prolific a writer than I am with a set up like this. I just finished reading Nancy Peacock’s A Broom of One’s Own and have some satisfaction in reading I am not alone. She says it is not the exterior writing place that has to be just right, but the interior place. That is the truth. I lack of self-discipline and my mind is all over the place most of the time. I tried, and succeeded for about two weeks, to force myself to write 2,000 words a day. Then I went back and read those words and realized they were drivel. Whe...

I joined an on-line discussion on book signings recently. It reminded me that some of my most successful book events were held in venues other than book stores. I’ve read and signed in coffee shops, a restaurant, a university, tack shops (horse supplies and riding attire), feed stores, elementary schools, and art galleries. My writing journey began in 1999 when my first children’s historical fiction novel was published by Coastal Carolina Press. CCP was great in that they set up several book events for me, some in book stores and others in less traditional places including a university, where I was part of a panel of authors speaking to a large group. It was so scary! Schools are one of my favorite venues for signing my children’s historical fiction books. I visit schools and do programs about the history of North Carolina’s wild horses and colonial history as both are the inspiration for Pale as the Moon, Bear Song, and An Independent Spirit . When my series of horse book...