inspiration

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Point of View: Drag Queens in Space

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Drag Queen in Space - Deposit Photos composite

One of the most loathed questions among my writer friends, and the one asked by almost every interviewer, is “Where do you get your inspiration from?” This question comes in many forms: The honest-to-God short answer is that no one f@cking knows. Writer’s brains are a little like those mazes the white coated lab scientists train rats with – dark, twisty, and with a bit of rat fur (and quite possibly droppings) around almost every corner. Writer brains are like a complex piece of machinery handed to a two-year-old child, who shakes it up and down energetically and turns it … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Writers Who Inspire Me

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Inspiration - Deposit Photos

Fan Joel Arellano recently asked me what writers inspired me. Every author writes from a font of knowledge and a stew of weird ingredients created from a life’s worth of experience – where we grew up, how we were raised, and what we consumed over those (for me) long 52 years now. But one big piece of this is the other writers we have read. So here, in no particular order, is a non-comprehensive list of some of the writers who have inspired me, and why. Sherri S. Tepper: I first encountered Ms. Tepper’s work in the supermarket checkout line. … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: When the Word is the Story

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I’ve always had a fascination with words. Duh, right? It’ one of the prerequisites for being a writer, just like a love of the law is for being a lawyer, and a love of art is for the artist. But recently, I’ve found a new, more specific use for this logofile obsession of mine – turning a word into a story. One of the questions many of my writer friends hate the most is “where do you get your ideas?” My friend Angel’s flippant response is that she buys them wholesale at an idea emporium. Their disdain is understandable – … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: I Am My Father’s Son

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Bill Coatsworth

I am my father’s son. My father and mother separated when I was a little kid. Near as I can tell from the pictures, it was in 1973, when I was four or five. My Dad and Mom were… let’s just say, less than a perfect match for each other. When they divorced, my Dad moved out to an apartment across town, and I stayed with my Mom. That’s not to say that my Dad moved out of my life. Far from it. For all the angst in their relationship with each other, they always agreed on one thing – … Read more