The next two writers are both writing teachers that have been around a long time.

Natalie Goldberg wrote Writing Down the Bones, back in the 80’s and has since become a classic (a la Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird) on scribes’ shelves. I believe they are still using her liberating book in some college courses and writing circles because it underscores the ease and ability every human has to write or create whatever they need to express. Her style is welcoming and open, encouraging and educational. She specifically includes Zen thinking into her text and way of instruction. Her beliefs influence her style of writing that reads occasionally like a guided meditation. Her exercises are practical and insightful, taking the issue at hand, right at the core. She constructs activities for writers that fit the proverbial “outside the box” label. After this book, I am on to her latest, The True Secret of Writing, her unique version of connecting life to words after forty years of teaching aspiring poets, essayists and novelists. She currently lives in Taos, New Mexico and is exploring the world of color through her art  – via paint.

I just discovered Louise de Salvo while reading a review on Amazon about Goldberg’s books. I started with her newer, The Art of Slow Writing and am getting my toes wet because I just couldn’t wait with, Writing as a Way of Healing. I was impressed enough with the first title and her style and form to investigate further. I found out her breakout book was the second title, bought it and I carry it with me everywhere now. So, I am almost finished with the first and getting started on the second, although she wrote them in reverse. It doesn’t matter really with nonfiction anyway. She is a memoirist with several memoirs to her name and taught writing as a professor at Hunter College.

I am reading these authors simultaneously and I am finding them to be an amazing and inspiring group of friends and supporters.

If only laundering, sorting, folding, dishes, meals, errands, appointments, sleep and phone calls weren’t included in my day to day tasks, I would read and write whenever and where ever it would strike my fancy.