C a r o l y n D a u g h t e r s

Michael Cunningham wrote, “I have known writers over the years, enormously talented, who are so self-conscious about [their writing], who are so terrified of ever writing a bad sentence, that they can’t write anything at all. I think a certain fearlessness in the face of your own ineptitude is a useful tool.” Cunningham wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Hours.

At a gathering at Tattered Cover bookstore in Denver a few years back, author Francine Prose told an audience of budding novelists to “Trick yourself into writing the first draft.”

I think it’s possible Cunningham and Prose are talking about … Continue Reading

Every two weeks a friend and I meet at Tattered Cover bookstore to review each other’s writing. We head to the second level, find a couple of comfy chairs, and chat. While there, my friend gives me old copies of The New Yorker. I rip out the stories and recycle the rest.

Until the other day.

Tattered Cover employee: Stop! You’re not allowed to rip out magazine pages inside the store! You’re sending a very powerful message to our patrons!

C: You’re afraid people will think I’m defacing and destroying store material?

TC: Worse than that. I’m afraid people are going to see you doing it … Continue Reading

A friend of mine is convinced she’s never going to date again. She’s too old. No man could possibly be interested in her. It’s true—just ask her.

She’s got a point. I mean, she’s got curly dark red hair and sky blue eyes and the happiest laugh you ever heard. She’s athletic and thin. She’s a fiction writer and loves travel and all things cultural. And she has a sick sense of humor and curses loudly like a sailor, oftentimes while we’re grabbing a cup of coffee at Tattered Cover bookstore. We’re usually sitting in the Religion and Spirituality section, and … Continue Reading