occasional posts by risa aratyr
thoughts, news, and items of writerly interest
That “first foray into fiction” I mentioned at the end of “Tools of the Trade, part iii” didn’t start out in a literary vein. It started out as a daydream. People daydream about movie stars, about living the good life, about wreaking righteous vengeance on the neighbor’s yapping dog … My daydreams were initially extensions of my … Read more The First Foray
I’m fed up with Bernie die-hards claiming the high revolutionary ground. Winning the White House isn’t the end-all/be-all of political change. Did the civil rights movement collapse with the deaths of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X? Was the Free Speech Movement silenced when police dragged Mario Savio from the podium in the Greek … Read more An Open Letter to the Bernie Faithful
As best I can recall, my tools-of-the-trade got zero upgrades between college graduation (1975) and our first home computer (1982). During that period, the cheap ballpoint pen was my go-to in the writing department, like this Bic Crystal. Long-hand was my primary writing mode. My penmanship . . . I just realized that’s a sexist term. I … Read more Tools of the Trade, part III
When I went off to college, the fancy electric typewriter stayed home. Still, Dad did come through with a replacement. Was it something along the lines of this gorgeous 1970 Contessa portable? Was it this much more affordable option from Montgomery Ward? Nope. It was Grandpa’s old Underwood. And I mean old Underwood. Circa … Read more Tools of the Trade, Part II
I always considered myself a reader. I didn’t always think of myself as a writer. I liked to write, sure. I thought everyone did. Guess I wasn’t paying attention. It came as a strange revelation when I learned — in my late 30s, when I was writing/editing fer-reals — that not only were many not … Read more Tools of the Trade, part I