by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Mar 28, 2017 | 60 to 60, Columbus GA, continuous life, life, marriage, memory, Pam Houston, provincetown, reading, time, truth, Writing by Writers |
2013: One week a month in Provincetown. Space is opening all around me. I plan ahead, run the dates by Cal, and start booking flights. In January, I stay at The Watermark Inn. It’s closed. But I’ve stayed here before and it’s Provincetown. So just me...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Mar 27, 2017 | 60 to 60, Columbus GA, continuous life, life, marriage, memory, mfa, Pam Houston, provincetown, time, truth |
2012: After I give my lecture and reading, I start making the changes to my first novel that my agent (late addition to yesterday’s post) has requested, Tori Amos’ Silent All These Years and Regina Spector’s Us on repeat. Cal comes to Vermont...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Mar 27, 2017 | about the current writer, novels, stories |
I have been looking into schedules. Even when we read physics, we inquire of each least particle, What then shall I do this morning? How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we are doing. A schedule...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Mar 26, 2017 | 60 to 60, Columbus GA, continuous life, life, marriage, memory, mfa, Pam Houston, reading, time, truth |
2011: In January, I finish up winter residency and fall under the spell of Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad. February is AWP in Washington, DC, where I spot Josh Ritter in the bar and actually talk to him. In March, Contrary reviews are due to me, I...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Mar 25, 2017 | 60 to 60, Columbus GA, continuous life, Dani Shapiro, life, marriage, memory, mfa, my writing, Pam Houston |
2010: The new year begins in the deep snow of Vermont. I stay in the dorm, wear my first pair of snow boots, and vow not to waste any more years writing novels that don’t sell. I will go shorter. And I start something new that has hold of me rather than the...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Mar 24, 2017 | 60 to 60, Columbus GA, continuous life, Dani Shapiro, life, marriage, memory, mfa, Pam Houston, provincetown, time, truth |
2009: Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th President. After a visit to Bobby in Scotland, Cal comes with me to Sirenland. It’s the only writing conference I know that is spouse friendly. In Italy we make a daily habit of climbing all those steps and then...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Mar 23, 2017 | 60 to 60, Columbus GA, continuous life, Dani Shapiro, life, marriage, memory, Pam Houston, reading, time, truth |
As you might guess from the length of yesterday’s and today’s posts–the squares turning into rectangles–writing these short is getting more difficult. The years feel unwieldy now rather than obscure. I’m working to contain rather than to...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Mar 22, 2017 | 60 to 60, Columbus GA, continuous life, life, marriage, memory, Pam Houston, provincetown, reading, time, truth |
So the music is back… 2007: Turning 50 gives me pause but not much. To celebrate, I want to go somewhere I’ve never been before. Cal and I plan a trip to a private island in Belize where we have a one-room villa with walls that can disappear to make it...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Mar 21, 2017 | 60 to 60, Columbus GA, continuous life, life, marriage, memory, Pam Houston, provincetown, reading, time, truth |
For the past few years and for a few more to come, I don’t remember what music I was listening to, and I wonder why that is. I’m sure Dave Matthews still, and Jackson Browne always. James Taylor always. And the Eagles’ Hell Freezes Over....
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Mar 20, 2017 | 60 to 60, Columbus GA, continuous life, Dani Shapiro, life, marriage, memory, reading, time, truth |
2005: In January I attend the San Diego State Agent Conference. Ten minutes with each agent. Speed dating. Bobby’s a junior and thinks he wants to go to the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. We plan a visit for spring break–all of us except Kathleen,...
