Category Archives: On Writing
Interviewing Fredrik Backman
(http://www NULL.nicholebernier NULL.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/NicFredrikBackman-crop NULL.jpg)I love when the local bookstore asks me to interview a visiting author, making it a Q&A-style event instead of a reading. I like that better in my own events too, more of a conversation than a … Continue reading
Not just the facts
I was getting ready for an interview recently, a follow-up phone call for a magazine piece profiling a semi-famous person. An entrepreneur who’d started off on the completely wrong foot before finding the right calling as a television personality, and … Continue reading
Cottage courage
(http://www NULL.nicholebernier NULL.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/cottage3 NULL.jpg)Last week, we moved across town to a house on the edge of the woods, up against 13 acres of an abandoned farm. I went walking and found this in the forest not 300 yards from our … Continue reading
First You Crawl
(http://www NULL.nicholebernier NULL.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/dancers NULL.jpg) I went to a dance pageant recently, a holiday performance of ballet, modern and jazz with local girls age 6-16. Actually, I have no idea how old the dancers were. Some were clearly 25, which is … Continue reading
The Demise of Private Writing?
(http://www NULL.nicholebernier NULL.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/public_private NULL.jpg)Shortly after my novel came out, I got an interesting email from a reader. She said she hadn’t been sure she would like a book half written in the form of journals, but had been grabbed by … Continue reading
Own Your Opinions, Kids
(http://www NULL.nicholebernier NULL.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/JacksonMurphy NULL.jpg) One of my children told me recently that he couldn’t ever be a reviewer — of books, art, restaurants, or a sports columnist — because he didn’t want to hurt people’s feelings. (Never mind that just … Continue reading
Author One-on-One: Nichole Bernier and Dani Shapiro
(http://www NULL.nicholebernier NULL.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/NicholeBernierMed-res NULL.jpg) (http://www NULL.nicholebernier NULL.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/DaniShapiro2 NULL.jpg) Dani Shapiro: This is your first novel after years of being a magazine editor and writer. What made you decide to write this story? Joan Didion describes material she wants to write … Continue reading
Say What You Mean To Say
(http://www NULL.nicholebernier NULL.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/200146663-002 NULL.jpg)Words matter. They matter whether you say them or write them, because you never know how you might impact someone. And words don’t have an expiration date. That was the message of a blog post (http://beyondthemargins NULL.com/2012/04/the-power-of-words/) by a … Continue reading
On Rejection and the Beautiful Blueberry
(http://www NULL.nicholebernier NULL.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/blueberries1 NULL.jpg)I was not in the best of moods the other morning. It was gray and sleeting, and I’m guilty of letting weather affect me. The to-do list seemed overwhelming, and the calendar said there were to be … Continue reading
Out Of My Comfort Zone
(http://www NULL.nicholebernier NULL.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/nursehall NULL.jpg) The other day I stood at the camera angle of this hallway, which was even creepier and darker than it looks (the iPhone has a decent flash). To say the walls were crumbling would be an … Continue reading
