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WRITING WITH YOUR EVER-PRESENT MUSE

Name: WRITING WITH YOUR EVER-PRESENT MUSE
Author: Edith Friesen

75 CATALYTIC READS, WISDOM POCKETS, AND LIVING EXPERIMENTS

by Edith Friesen ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

An original and thoughtful guide for writers.

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Awards & Accolades

Our Verdict

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Friesen offers a journey through the experiential side of writing, led by one’s inner source of inspiration, or “ever-present muse.”

There’s no shortage of books on the writing craft, but many of them focus on its technical aspects while failing to consider the undefinable spark that separates good writers from great ones. Friesen focuses on this spark, or “muse,” in a guide designed to help artists strip away the artifice, doubt, and distraction that may be impeding their writing. Using the analogy of a flower, she presents five petals, or stages, in the growth of a writer: “Opening to Wonder,” “Risking the Heart,” “Following the Energy,” “Freeing the Mind,” and “Expressing With Presence.” To enrich readers’ understanding of each stage, she splits them into 15 topics, such as “Re-enchanting the Familiar” and “Tailored Expression,” intended to deepen writers’ understanding of their muse. Throughout, the author effectively engages readers with reflection as well as writing practice. “Catalytic Reads” begins with an enticement to “Experience This” or envision an environment in which they are one with their craft; “Wisdom Pockets” contains more practical writing advice, and “Living Experiments” encourage readers to try different exercises to employ new lessons. Friesen’s approach can feel a bit esoteric at times, but it also provides tremendous practical insight, shedding new light on common writing challenges, such as distraction, revision, and finding one’s voice. She also encourages writers to confront barriers to their potential, such as self-delusion, and occasionally adds humor to her advice to move writing beyond fear to a more joyous artistic experience.

An original and thoughtful guide for writers.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: FriesenPress

Review Posted Online: June 18, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

SELF-HELP | GENERAL NONFICTION

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ACCIDENTALLY ON PURPOSE

by Kristen Kish ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 22, 2025

Top Chef fans might savor this detailed account, but others will find it bland.

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The Top Chef host describes her journey to new heights.

For those who don’t know, Kish is a “gay Korean adopted woman, born in Seoul, raised in Michigan” and “a chef, a character, a host, and a cultural communicator—as well as a human being with a beating heart.” Though this book covers every step of her journey, every restaurant job and television role, and also discusses her experience as an adoptee (very positive) and a queer woman (late bloomer), the storytelling is so straightforward, lacking in suspense, character development, or dialogue, that it is basically a long version of its (longish) “About the Author.” Seemingly dramatic situations are not dramatized—when she was eliminated on her first Top Chef run, she assures us that she did the best she could, and drops it. “I can spare you the gory details (bouillabaisse and big personalities were involved).” Later, she cites a belief in protecting the privacy of others to omit the story of her first relationship with a woman. With no character development, neither does the reader get to know those who fall outside the privacy zone, like her best friend, Steph, and her wife, Bianca. When she gets mad, she says things like, “It’s a gross understatement to say I was crushed, beyond frustrated, and furious with the situation.” The fact that “I’ve never been a big reader” does not come as a surprise. It is more surprising when she confesses that “I believe the universe is selective about the moments in which it introduces life-changing prospects.”

Top Chef fans might savor this detailed account, but others will find it bland.

Pub Date: April 22, 2025

ISBN: 9780316580915

Page Count: 368

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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THE BACKYARD BIRD CHRONICLES

by Amy Tan ; illustrated by Amy Tan ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 23, 2024

An ebullient nature lover’s paean to birds.

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A charming bird journey with the bestselling author.

In his introduction to Tan’s “nature journal,” David Allen Sibley, the acclaimed ornithologist, nails the spirit of this book: a “collection of delightfully quirky, thoughtful, and personal observations of birds in sketches and words.” For years, Tan has looked out on her California backyard “paradise”—oaks, periwinkle vines, birch, Japanese maple, fuchsia shrubs—observing more than 60 species of birds, and she fashions her findings into delightful and approachable journal excerpts, accompanied by her gorgeous color sketches. As the entries—“a record of my life”—move along, the author becomes more adept at identifying and capturing them with words and pencils. Her first entry is September 16, 2017: Shortly after putting up hummingbird feeders, one of the tiny, delicate creatures landed on her hand and fed. “We have a relationship,” she writes. “I am in love.” By August 2018, her backyard “has become a menagerie of fledglings…all learning to fly.” Day by day, she has continued to learn more about the birds, their activities, and how she should relate to them; she also admits mistakes when they occur. In December 2018, she was excited to observe a Townsend’s Warbler—“Omigod! It’s looking at me. Displeased expression.” Battling pesky squirrels, Tan deployed Hot Pepper Suet to keep them away, and she deterred crows by hanging a fake one upside down. The author also declared war on outdoor cats when she learned they kill more than 1 billion birds per year. In May 2019, she notes that she spends $250 per month on beetle larvae. In June 2019, she confesses “spending more hours a day staring at birds than writing. How can I not?” Her last entry, on December 15, 2022, celebrates when an eating bird pauses, “looks and acknowledges I am there.”

An ebullient nature lover’s paean to birds.