Mirka Muse

  A little over a year ago, DD informed me that a gift from her was coming my way via the interwebs. And, as it turned out, the gift was a...

  The other day, I stopped, listened, and for the first time really heard— the harsh way I was talking to myself.   Me: “What a dumb thi...

  ^GOOD ADVICE TO LIVE BY^ During my less self-scheduled days, I find myself tempted by a sense of laziness to put off what I could do but...

  One of my foundational values is getting along with people. It’s not much of an obstacle when others think like me. It’s only a challeng...

  There’s a popular trope in children’s literature which swept the world with the arrival of Harry Potter et al. This trope centers on a chi...

 For as long as we keep marking and noting the passing of years, we will continue to count on hope that the numerical change of the counter ...

  We’ve heard about not judging a book by its cover. This goes for not dismissing a person because of the way they dress, or their vocabular...

  About six months ago, a digital security expert writing for the New York Times made a valiant attempt to “disappear from the Internet.” ...

  Years ago, I was asked by a good friend (not a writer or artist) if I had a writing retreat I go to in order to, what else, write.   I...

  I’ve blogged about this before, but the thorny matter of artists calling themselves “ aspiring artist/musician/writer” continues to sting....

  Thanksgiving week is upon us.   Grateful for my brilliant children, and for good kids everywhere.   Grateful for my patient husban...

  ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY, THE FIRST PUSH-BUTTON (TOUCH-TONE) TELEPHONES DEBUTED IN THE UNITED STATES, EVENTUALLY REPLACING MOST ROTARY-DIAL...

Since I read (was it by AI? There was an author name attached, but one never knows) that fifty percent of writers admit to using AI not just...

  In an older post , I disparaged agents whose submission forms ask if your fiction was written by AI. I mean, who would do such a thing? ...

  I’ve been noticing a trend that, while having trickles of historical roots, has become a flood in the last thirty years or so.   What ...

  I don’t get “ writer’s block ,” which in my not humble enough opinion is clinical depression as manifested in a writer. But I do have chap...

  One of my first beta readers, way back when, suggested that my plotting was strong but that characters lacked distinctive speech patterns....

  A dear friend told me more than ten years ago that her physical bookshelves were emptying. For reasons of space saving, she had gone from ...

  One of my favorite Jewish jokes goes like this: Two people have an argument and go to the rabbi to rule who’s right. After hearing the f...

 HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL ITS LEAVES FALLING ON THE PATH TO A MORE PEACEFUL MERCIFUL FUTURE 🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂 🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂 🍂🍂🍂 🍂

  This morning, I am thinking about polls. Not “the Poles,” who are the people of Poland, but these pesky things asking for our opinion.  ...

  When faced with a seemingly unresolvable ethical dilemma, I resort to The Golden Rule.   Most know the New Testament version: "...

  …TRY SOFTER   I’ve been contemplating this bit of advice, seemingly more a play on an idiom than wise, when out of the cloudy sky it c...

  If we change the word in the title of this post from “trolling” to “commenting,” most of us would recognize ourselves.   Sadly, some o...

  Many writers and literary analysts have said that the power of stories lie not in the events, but the meaning we make of the events.   ...

  You’ve been warned. Right now, I’m Ms. Grump because of my yesterday. I hope to climb out from under today with the help of letting it out...

  August is a good word. It means “respected and impressive,” according to one dictionary. It has a noble origin, according to another: ...

  JULY 29 th , 1981 Twenty-four years ago today, a prince married his bride, and she became Diana, Princess of Wales. The prince still liv...

  Years ago, when I first began writing in earnest, DH gave me the gift of Nancy Lamb’s book, The Writer's Guide to Crafting Stories for...

  One of the pitfalls of staying in school for many years is the dependence on deadlines set by others.   What, you might be saying, is ...

  I had a friend who was prone to bouts of depression. She was one of the most talented and brave people I have ever known. Still, waves of ...

  I’ve heard the saying, “Love shows up.” I’m going to lower the bar here and not address love, but just elemental decency between people...