May 5, 2023 | Current Ned Note, On Writing, Past Notes, Poetry
May May, and among the miles of leafing, blossoms storm out of the darkness— windflowers and moccasin flowers. The bees dive into them and I too, to gather their spiritual honey. Mute and meek, yet theirs is the deepest certainty that this existence too— this sense of...
Feb 11, 2023 | Current Ned Note, On Writing, Past Notes
Romance gets criticized for being repetitive – as if repetition is not the way we nourish our bodies and souls. Meals are repetitive: You have to keep making them and eating them and then making and eating them again. Song lyrics repeat every time a chorus comes...
Dec 5, 2022 | Current Ned Note, On Books, On Writing, Past Notes
Turns out, that Shakespeare may have taken Advent Season into account when deciding not only where his play would be set, but precisely when. Scholar Steve Roth has written a paper outlining the astronomical history of November 1601, and the holiday season for...
Oct 28, 2022 | Current Ned Note, On Writing, Past Notes, Poetry
A poem for this moment in our lives… (October 28, 2022) BY MAGGIE SMITH Life is short, though I keep this from my children. Life is short, and I’ve shortened mine in a thousand delicious, ill-advised ways, a thousand deliciously ill-advised ways I’ll keep from...
Oct 18, 2022 | Current Ned Note, On Writing, Past Notes
I’m overjoyed to support Clarion West’s annual fundraising gala by gifting the organization a complete novel edit for an aspiring (or published) writer. Clarion West is a fantastic organization for writers who work primarily in the SFF domain. Here are all...
Sep 23, 2022 | Current Ned Note, Past Notes, Poetry
Rosh Hashanah — September 25-27, 2022 new year. Ned Hayes Rosh Hashanah comes this year on a day of cool wind, a breathtaking portent of winter taking the world, rude lover tossing the sheets away. in autumn the sadness of all things is greatest for now...