Lit Salon

I Was a Child in a Child's Body.

But that child’s body was tucked inside the body of a mother, a ghost mother who would be my doorway to a new world

Jul 21 •

Jeannine Ouellette

In writing as in life, we fear to excise what we treasure—or what we have treasured.

But we also learn to become survivors of our own choices

Jul 14 •

Jeannine Ouellette

The Lantern and the Latch

Thoughts On the Indelible Power of Artistic Mentorship

Jul 7 •

Jeannine Ouellette

The Wilderness Has Teeth, But It Sings

We took our four-year-old grandson, Z, to the cabin this weekend, along with his mom, Billie.

Jun 30 •

Jeannine Ouellette

The Dream That Wasn’t: On Letting Go, Becoming, and the Quiet Joy of Making

Lit Salon on the strange holiness of plans that collapse and don't come back

Jun 23 •

Jeannine Ouellette

The 5-Step WITD Method That Helped Get This Writer Into The NYT. She Calls It "A Total Game Changer"

Creative work is sacred, vulnerable, and alive. It does not grow in the harsh soil of other people’s unprepared opinions. There is a better way, and you…

Jun 20 •

Jeannine Ouellette

The Shapeless Hour

Lit Salon on what to do when a sentence won’t hold. A self won’t hold. The structure you built, patiently, exquisitely, won’t carry weight. You touch it…

Jun 16 •

Jeannine Ouellette

Don’t Let Writing Advice Silence Your Authorial Voice?

Lit Salon on the perennial question of writing instruction ... and whether it does more harm than good

Jun 13 •

Jeannine Ouellette

Let's Say You're To Write About Love

For Max and Kaela on Their Wedding Day

Jun 9 •

Jeannine Ouellette

What An Editor Really Wants

From the Archive | Lit Salon on five things I want to see in writing ... and five things I don't

Jun 6 •

Jeannine Ouellette

What the Trees Know That We’ve Forgotten

And why it matters for writers

Jun 2 •

Jeannine Ouellette

I Am Trying To Tell You Something About Ghosts

And an invocation for the living and the gone

May 26 •

Jeannine Ouellette

#nojs-banner { position: fixed; bottom: 0; left: 0; padding: 16px 16px 16px 32px; width: 100%; box-sizing: border-box; background: red; color: white; font-family: -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 13px; } #nojs-banner a { color: inherit; text-decoration: underline; } This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please turn on JavaScript or unblock scripts