Sharing scenes from my current novel-in-progress (maaaaybeeee novellaaaaa...) has been quite the experience. So in no particular order... ...it forces me to write something. I promised to send people scenes every Sunday, and I haven't missed a Sunday yet (17 Sundays so far!) ...it pushes me through my fear of judgment. The fear is still …
When I was a toddler, my mom spent time in a hospital in Tampa. It would have been in the summer of 1971 or 72, right around the time of The Baker Act. I don't know if that had anything to do with her time in the hospital. I know that she tried to harm …
These are strange times. Everything I've thought to write seems beside the point. To say I dislike uncertainty seems silly. Few of us do. Some people say they do, but I tend think they mean uncertainty within reason. Some people shrug and say they've been working from home for years and nothing much has changed. …
I've done almost nothing creative for days. I've either been working to switch my real life classes to online class or reading about COVID-19 or taking pictures of our dogs or looking at other people's pictures of dogs. Well, I did build lots of odd, random structures out of Legos. This is why I dreamed …
My dad once told me I only got headaches because I'd seen Tylenol advertised on TV. "I've never gotten a headache," he said, "and we didn't have a TV when I was a kid." To be sure, he said it like a joke. My dad says everything like a joke. I didn't see him take …
My second October as a Peace Corps volunteer and my second month into a new relationship, I got sick. Very sick. I must've had the flu, but I never received a proper diagnosis. Bulgarian friends and coworkers said I had The Grip, which this website tells me is the flu. (I've written about this before, …
A couple of weeks ago at a Death Cafe, people talked about whether they were afraid of death and what it meant to live without that fear. I've been thinking about things people said. Keep in mind it's a room full of strangers trying to voice thoughtful perspectives on big questions in a short amount …
I finished my third story for Story-a-Day. I'm feeling that familiar mix of joy--I did it!--and dread--It's probably terrible. Being terrible isn't the end of the world though, is it? Why do we feel compelled to do something that we don't even have confidence in? It really makes no sense. It's actually a privilege to …
It's Tuesday again, so here we are. I'm going to be writing a query letter this weekend. If you don't know how, plenty of websites, articles, and podcasts will explain it. Somehow it still feels impossible. I have to summarize my novel's plot and make it sound irresistible. I've read that if you can write …
Bright spots do shine in the world. What is a bright spot for you these days? I read too much news and feel we're very much in darkness. But as Dumbledore reminds us, “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” How does one …
