To encounter a fine book and have time to read it is a wonderful thing.

While I had cancer, I wrote these twenty-two personal essays about how I lived my life backed by Zen and writing.

One poem or story doesn't matter one way or the other. It's the process of writing and life that matters.

Read books. They are good for us.

Play around. Dive into absurdity and write. Take chances. You will succeed if you are fearless of failure.

There's an old adage in writing: 'Don't tell, but show.' Writing is not psychology. We do not talk 'about' feelings. Instead the writer feels and through her words awakens those feelings in the reader. The writer takes the reader's hand and guides him through the valley of sorrow and joy without ever having to mention those words.

You'll lose your reader if you are vague, not clear, and not present. We love details, personal connections, stories.