Lily Iona MacKenzie's Blog

MEET PROLIFIC AUTHOR MICHAEL C. WHITE WHO TAKES US INSIDE HIS WRITING LIFE IN THIS INTERVIEW! Michael C. White is the author of seven novels: Soul Catcher (William Morrow), which was a Booksense and Historical Novels Review selection, as well as a finalist for the Connecticut Book Award; A Brother’s Blood (Harper Collins), which was …

Continue reading Meet prolific novelist Michael C. White who takes us inside his writing life!

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I’ve just finished reading Henry James’ The Portrait of a Lady again and have mixed feelings about the era and the characters. It’s difficult to read about Victorian morés from a 21st Century perspective. Not only do I need lenses that will give me a bi-cultural perspective, but I also feel squashed between a culture …

Continue reading Henry James’ Isabel Archer meets A. M. Homes

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For many years I’ve been recording my dreams each morning and trying to grasp the messages they bring me from the depths. I subscribe to Jung’s view that dreams are messengers from the unconscious, both personal and collective. To ignore them is like refusing to open and read letters from beloved friends that come in …

Continue reading What’s in a dream?

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When I was a child, the popular books for kids included the Nancy Drew mysteries, the Bobbsey Twins, and the Hardy Boys. I loved burying myself in these stories that involved other youth who were trying to find their place in the world. But I also had a passion for fairy tales. I found them …

Continue reading How fairytales help us to embrace life’s hardships & endure them

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Many of my poems reflect a continuing interest in perception and how we try to capture fleeting moments with language. The art that comes closest to what I’m trying to do in poetry is photography, the exploration of things in the world (and in ourselves) from various angles. The attempt to penetrate surfaces by using …

Continue reading What’s the relationship between poetry and perception?

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As a young woman in the 50s growing up in Canada, I was intrigued by hockey and football. Baseball didn’t exist for me then. It hadn’t entered Canadian consciousness, and it would take some years before it did. I didn’t feel deprived. Hockey and football had much to offer at that time, including handsome, vigorous …

Continue reading What does baseball have to do with writing?

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Jane Friedman, a publishing industry expert upon whom I rely for trustworthy information recently updated her very helpful guide to hybrid publishing. For anyone considering this publishing route, be sure to read this guide carefully as she outlines many of the warning signs when you consider signing with a hybrid publisher. I also recommend this …

Continue reading Guest Elizabeth Winthrop Alsop reveals the pitfalls of Hybrid Publishing

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Since 2015, I’ve published four novels, one memoir, and two poetry collections. I tell you this, dear readers and writers, because for the past couple of weeks, I’ve been blasted by emails that are clearly AI generated. Individuals (or maybe robots) want to sell me their marketing services. Some offer access to major nationwide book …

Continue reading AI is scamming writers!

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Writing has become such a part of my day that if I don’t get to it, I’m constantly distracted, as if I have a lover I’m thinking about. It’s like a siren’s call, pulling me away. My husband notices it. He comments on me seeming drifty. He’s right. I’m not fully there. As happened tonight. …

Continue reading Writing into life!

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I’m thinking today of timing—how important it is to success.  Timing and perseverance:  the two go together.  I’m also noticing the seasonal aspect of creativity, how cyclic it is.  That too is hard to grasp.  I want it all the time.  I’m afraid if it isn’t there, it won’t return.  But I need to remember …

Continue reading Timing and the creative process

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