LEARNING FROM A MASTER by Deborah Elliott-Upton A person I learn from is someone I never forget. Today I am thinking of Tony Hillerman and how almost two years later, we still mourn his passing. There will be no new Joe Leaphorn tales to look forward to reading, no more seminars where Hillerman himself will […]

TAKING PEN IN HAND by Deborah Elliott-Upton There’s something special about actually putting pen to paper. It’s as different from composing a story on a computer as it is to receive a hand-written letter instead of an e-mail. The content may be the same, but the delivery is so impersonal. Pressed for time, digital responses […]

CHARACTER SWITCH by Deborah Elliott-Upton In workshops, I often instruct writers to become a reporter and interview their characters. I stress they should ask pressing questions to expose underlying thoughts to develop the characterization. Mainly, I wanted them to dig into what makes them who they really are beneath the façade. Recently, I added another […]

HOT, HOT, HOT! by Deborah Elliott-Upton ”I feel like a wet seed wild in the hot blind earth.” – William Faulkner. I’m sitting alone in my hairdresser’s reception area. A coffee machine is gurgling, a Coke machine is humming a bit too loud, but stops abruptly as the air conditioning kicks into high gear. From […]

PLAYING AROUND by Deborah Elliott-Upton When we were kids, it seemed the whole neighborhood played together – outside. I remember running fast. Nobody jogged or trotted. Any one of us could be seen running as if our life depended on it, often until we couldn’t take one more step and breathe at the same time. […]

ALOHA SUMMER by Deborah Elliott-Upton It’s been nine months, but feels like only weeks since my intern and I got together to discuss writing, writers in general, and how to make the obsession we shared into a career. Summer is graduating high school and will be on her way to college this fall. She’ll be […]

SING ME A STORY by Deborah Elliott-Upton With the exception of math story problems, I love almost any kind of story. I’m not a snob to genre, although I do prefer mysteries. In listening to my personal music collection, I thought about how I am drawn to songs that tell a story. I can hear […]