Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:32:56 +0000 Doodle, www.carolineallen.com NPR ran a program recently on community farms in Massachusetts. The gist of the piece was that more and more people are seeking out local farmers and eating local produce. One of the interviewees was a young man who worked on a community farm. He explained that Whole Foods turned down their produce. "They wouldn't take the carrots," he said, laughing, "because they…

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 14:57:56 +0000 The Allen children, left to right, Cathy, Tina, Guy, Carrie, Jim (not pictured Vic and Ross). 1971. After I finished my novel Earth, I went online and ordered a book from the library, Parenting a Highly Intuitive Child. I did this without remembering doing it, until two days ago when (months after I ordered it), the library emailed to say it was there and to…

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 14:21:45 +0000 View out my writing window, frozen river. My artist friend Deb Dixon and I barca on a regular basis. We’ve set up two barca loungers outside my studio – Deb calls it my front porch. We hold regular sessions in the barcas, dynamic conversations on the state of the world, the state of women artists and the state of art itself. Because of these passionate…

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 20:40:58 +0000 In my studio in Western Avenue Studios, Photo by Adrien Bisson, Photographer, www.adrienbisson.com. Click here for his blog. Photographer Adrien Bisson came to my studio to do a photo shoot recently. I had the bubonic plague (I kid you not -- a certain strain of virus has hit Massachusetts and sent three people I know to the hospital with pneumonia and broken ribs from coughing!)…

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:57:07 +0000 Front seat, digital photography, www.carolineallen.com When I finished the rough draft of Earth a few years ago, I felt like I'd just run a marathon. I made it past the finish line, leaned over my knees to catch my breath, held the stitch in my side and paced while sucking from a water bottle. When I came to a stop, I looked up. What? I…

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:17:39 +0000 Costa Rica, 2007, www.carolineallen.com A great many people I coach, myself included, have had to go backwards to go forwards in their careers as writers/artists. I find this true when it comes to many of the arts, failure in one way is the success one needs to become the artist they were always meant to be. In my own life, I had a successful journalism…

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 13:10:24 +0000 View from the studio, www.carolineallen.com As writers of memoir make progress toward completing a book, many begin to worry about putting their truth out there. First, this is a valid concern, and one I tell clients they have to take seriously. I cannot tell them that it's OK to reveal family secrets to the world; I'm not the one who has to live with it.…

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:51:15 +0000 Maine, www.carolineallen.com When you write a novel, you become fully and deeply immersed in a fictious world. When you write memoir, you dive into a past that is so visceral it feels like you're living it over again. The single most difficult aspect of writing for me and for some of the other writers I coach is how to enter that other world fully AND…

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:42:31 +0000 Friends, Budapest, Hungary, www.carolineallen.com I had dinner with a friend last night and she asked if we could set up some time to get together and break some plates. "I really need to smash something," she said, over roast chicken and garlic potatoes. We were both in a rage place with men who dominate conversations, what I call "dominating the storyline". If you don't hear…

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:41:27 +0000 Bottle feeding Blacky and Bully, 1973 I have just finished a revision of Earth, my novel, using software (NewNovelist 2.0) that has helped deepen the plot. I am a poet at heart and plot is not one of my strong suits, although I willingly take on learning new avenues in writing. The stronger plot (and all types of revision will do this) has deepened the…