Writers always tend to believe their best writing happens in paradise.  Whether it’s a mountain chalet, a cabin in the desert, or a condo overlooking a stretch of glowing white sand, we all love to dream about the “Writer’s Retreat.”  Peace.  Quiet.  Writing.  Aah!...

This post originally appeared at Dappled Things [During the Christmas Truce of 1914, a] British Daily Telegraph correspondent wrote that on one part of the line the Germans had managed to slip a chocolate cake into British trenches.  Even more amazingly, it was...

Where do ideas come from?  I don’t think anyone really knows.  We have all experienced the moment of, “Aha!” that seems to strike like a bolt of lightning, as if from some external source.  But no matter where ideas come from, a writer cannot afford to be without...