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Posts Tagged ‘creativity’

Useful Tools

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , on January 20, 2026| Leave a Comment »

The world is a distracting place. If you’ve been having trouble finding the time and energy to focus on your writing, this free class from award-winning author Mary Robinette Kowal might be useful.

Free Class: Barriers to Writing

Hey there… have you been having a hard time writing? Yeah. There’s a lot of that going around right now.

This class looks at what keeps people from writing. It’s less about problems with the story and more about all the external things. It covers environmental factors, mental health, and tricks for compensating for all of this to write.

Thanks, Mary!

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Photo by yousef samuil on Unsplash

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What She Said

Posted in Other, tagged , , , , , , on January 18, 2026| 3 Comments »

“We’re only here for a short time. So why not go for it?”

— Belle Burden

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Photo by Milad E-pour on Unsplash

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Got Books?

Posted in Other, tagged , , , , , on January 15, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Today, a little update related to a post I made in (checks notes) 2012: Today in Spectacular Bookseller Practices: A Random Used-Book Vending Machine.

The image for that post is broken and there wasn’t a lot of information about the actual book vending machine, but I’m here to rectify that oversight!

What am I on about? The BIBLIO-MAT, a.k.a the book vending machine.

THE BIBLIO-MAT

The BIBLIO-MAT is a random book vending machine designed and built by Craig Small for The Monkey’s Paw, an idiosyncratic antiquarian bookshop in Toronto.

It’s awesome and handmade and should be something you can get in multiple sizes and formats for next-day delivery because it is just that cool. (Seriously, what would a suitcase sized or food truck style or e-book version of this look like?)

Check out the link for how-it-works videos and enough interior sketches to inspire your own if you are mechanically inclined (and have a significant pile of maybe-never-to-be-read books).

Because as Dame Margaret Atwood says, “THIS! IS! BRILLIANT!”

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But where are all the books? Photo by Victoriano Izquierdo on Unsplash

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Artist, Be Brave

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , on January 6, 2026| Leave a Comment »

You don’t have to be miserable or suffer to create art; but you do have to be honest, and honesty is terrifying.

— Elizabeth Bear

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Photo by Zachary Keimig on Unsplash

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Creative Work

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , on January 3, 2026| Leave a Comment »

“Art is not a mirror held up to reality but a hammer with which to shape it.”

― Bertolt Brecht

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Photo by Jonny Gios on Unsplash

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Nothing At All

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , on January 2, 2026| Leave a Comment »

“You must find the place inside yourself where nothing is impossible.”

― Deepak Chopra

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Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash

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Keep Doing It

Posted in Other, Writing, tagged , , , , on December 30, 2025| Leave a Comment »

“Scared is what you’re feeling. Brave is what you’re doing.”

― Emma Donoghue

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Photo by Andriyko Podilnyk on Unsplash

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Time Machines

Posted in Other, Writing, tagged , , , , on December 28, 2025| Leave a Comment »

“We all have our time machines, don’t we. Those that take us back are memories… And those that carry us forward, are dreams.”

― H.G. Wells

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Photo by Roger Ce on Unsplash

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Lessons from the Past

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , on December 27, 2025| Leave a Comment »

“That’s what literature is. It’s the people who went before us, tapping out messages from the past, from beyond the grave, trying to tell us about life and death! Listen to them!”

— Connie Willis

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Image by Europeana / Rijksmuseum on Unsplash

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Journey to The Journey

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , on December 19, 2025| Leave a Comment »

I ran across this short piece by Brian Lewis (self-described Cosmic Poet, which is awesome), and wanted to share. 

In the fall of 1929, with America days away from financial ruin, Joseph Campbell committed what everyone called “professional suicide.” He walked into his advisor’s office at Columbia—degree in hand, future within reach—and announced, calmly, boldly, disastrously: “I don’t want one field. I want all of them.”

Yes, that Joseph Campbell, Mister Hero with a Thousand Faces.

By now, most of us have heard about Campbell’s Hero’s Journey, and how it distills thousands of years of mythology into a useful, easily transferrable model to help reach an audience.

(It also generated follow-on models, including Gail Carriger’s Heroine’s Journey.)

But how did Campbell build that original model? The essay shares some of the backstory of that process, and was full of new-to-me details. How did Campbell go from obscurity to one of the best known framers of storytelling?

Read the full essay for more. And yes, George Lucas plays a significant role:)

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Photo by Javier García on Unsplash

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