by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Mar 30, 2017 | 1 true thing, 60 to 60, Columbus GA, continuous life, life, marriage, memory, Pam Houston, provincetown, reading, time, truth |
2015: Back in Provincetown, I sit still and stare at the water. The last couple of years, all my writing efforts have poured into this current novel and apparently all my self-worth as well. When I see people, they ask if they can buy one of my books yet. I lose my...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Mar 29, 2017 | 60 to 60, Columbus GA, continuous life, life, marriage, memory, Pam Houston, provincetown, Writing by Writers |
Yesterday evening while I was walking, I began to think ahead to this year and to 2015. And these upcoming years made me realize that for 2012 and 2013 I left out two important things. One, my parents’ health is worsening, in particular my father’s, and...
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...