Allison Mackie quotes:

The exchange of words is a lot like a virtual handshake. Is the writer's grasp of the language strong and bold? Are the words gripping? Direct? Inventive? Sincere?

Universal love is the standard-sized socket that everyone can plug into. No adapting mechanism required.

We need a safe place, a reserve of truth, a place where words kindle ideas and set ideas sparking off in others, a word sanctuary. Poetry is this gathering place of words.

I didn't get to be this smart by not being stupid

Sharing words with someone you have never met is like observing a shadow, without seeing the whole person; the place where my shadow touches theirs, is the place where our words meet, and it is in that place where wonderful exchanges can take place.

There are two types of people in this world: Gypsy and Gadge. Which one am I? Neither. I'm a writer.

There are many out there who proudly call themselves critics, but I have come to see that many of those critics have never tested their own skill.

It is a rare and valuable tonic to share insights, dreams and concerns with people whom you have never met. The sole purpose for such exchanges is simply to give light to one another.

Interlude with sunshine. Hello monday mein lazy freund.

If the weeds are pulled out of the garden too soon, the too shallow roots of the plants developing around it get pulled up with the weed also. Time is what is needed before criticism can be useful.

Paint right into the darkness. While painting in these conditions the mind shifts gears, engaging the unconscious. Unique 'insights' happen in the dark.

So worried was I that people would see through the painting into my soul - and guess at secret Alison stuff - that I scraped the paint off the canvas. It was too risky to expose what everyone hides...And yet isn't that the job of the artist? Next step is to take the risk - to work more deeply. To expose that which cannot be expressed any other way. That is art. Scary and exciting.

Writing without words? Its not easy, I tell you! I stab the pen into my heart and let the blood flow. No more ink, no more words, no more b.s. Just me.