Katiaesque

  • Hanging A Shingle

    Hi all, A couple of things this week. First, I would like to welcome the new subscribers. Every time someone new joins the small but beloved audience of this blog, I get nervous. I feel like going, “what me? What would they want to hear from good old me for, when there are so many other great,…

    Katia Raina

  • What I’ve Learned At VCFA Series: Semester One (Included: The Secret To Productivity!)

    This is the end of my first semester. Five packets containing nine essays, 200 pages total of creative work, 50 books read and analyzed, many exchanges with my advisor, Tim Wynne-Jones. I get a little choked up and overwhelmed, just thinking about the whole experience. So why don’t I try to tell you what I’ve learned…

    Katia Raina

  • Flying

    Happy Monday, everyone! Yes, happy Monday. Whether it’s a day job Monday, or just a busy Monday. Try to treasure it no matter what. Measure your Mondays with new words, measure them with love, with little bits of beauty. Try to fly through Mondays, if you can. Try to, even if you cannot. I think…

    Katia Raina

  • Writing Under Pressure

    Celebration! Fireworks! Last night I sent in the second packet of writing work to my Vermont College of Fine Arts advisor, the tough, ther wise, the formidable Tim Wynnne-Jones. Two down. Only eighteen more to go. Ha! And yet, everyone who has been through the program  says these two years and twenty packets pass so fast. Very soon…

    Katia Raina

  • Homework Update

    Spring? Yeah, right! What was I thinking? Two days ago the world around me was wind, the sky lashing rain, and now the yard is covered with soft, beautiful, unwelcome snow. Oh, the foolishness of premature celebrations! As one Russian proverb says, “Don’t say ‘hop!’ before you jump over.” I don’t have time for a long or particularly thoughtful post,…

    Katia Raina

  • Homework

    Dear Magic Mirror subscribers, old and new! I just wanted to show you: this is what my next month is going to look like. This is only some of it, mind you. Another pile of books is coming my way from the library shortly. (Two different libraries). But yeah, this is it. One pile you…

    Katia Raina

  • What I’ve Learned In Vermont (So Far)

    So, how is it? What have you learned? What are you learning? As soon as I came back from my first residency at the Vermont College of Fine Arts, Writing For Children and Young Adults MFA program, the questions started pouring in. Once, I was once one of the eager questioners,  hungry for any nuggets of wisdom…

    Katia Raina

  • 31 Days, 31 Minutes, 32 Winners, 1 Prize!

    Hi all, In the first 31 days of this year, 42 people signed up to write for at least 31 minutes every day. For those of you who tried but didn’t make it daily, the trying is just as important sometimes. Judging from the comments and the emails, most of you still had a great…

    Katia Raina

  • Congratulations!

    Dear 31-minute challenge participants! We did it! You did it! Dear winners — I am so proud of you!!! Or — maybe you almost did it! I am proud of you anyway. What matters is, all month long, all of you’ve been writing away! Pushing yourselves, exploring, keeping your commitment to something that matters to…

    Katia Raina

  • Writing Reflections, A Guest Post

    It is my pleasure to welcome yet another guest, Jim Stone, a 31-minute challenge participant with some thoughts to offer on reasons for writing and the effect the opening of the writing valve has had on him during this month. Holding a mirror up to another mirror and tilting it just right will surprise you…

    Katia Raina