When I started my MFA, I had a goal: I was going to learn how to write good middle-grade fiction, by golly. I love goals. (This is why my family avoids me on January 1st.) I set about achieving this goal with my usual dose of enthusiasm. I scoured the faculty list, I read their […]
My phone pinged this morning with a text. The first words out of my mouth were, “What’s that? The airline telling me my flight’s cancelled?” Turns out…. That’s the power of putting words out there. So here I am, in the airport with a long layover, feeling grateful that I’ll be home by the end […]
I’ve wanted to write novels for as long as I can remember, but I’ve always had a hard time getting to The End. It’s daunting, isn’t it? You have this great idea, a character you love, or something that compels your forward and yet…..there are so many words to write down. Over the years, I’ve […]
I’m in a bathroom in a small town in Mexico. It’s the same as at home…but different. You can’t drink the water, toilet paper is not a given, and you check the water before you put soap on your hands because functioning faucets are not a given either….but the people are helpful, the scenery is […]
It’s the first weekend that feels nearly fall-like here, in North Carolina, and I have that urge to make lists, clean the closets, and reflect on summer. As I was combing through some photos from the summer, I thought about whimsy, and how important it is for my creative soul. Summer started with birds. My […]
If I say “social medial” and you think “I have nothing to say,” your paradigm is about to be totally up-ended. I had the pleasure of hearing President and Founder of The Social institute Laura Tierney’s thoughts this week (she’s on twitter @soLaur) and I’m going to share what I gleaned from her energetic, polished, […]
I’ve been thinking about time, lately, and the opening scene of I Don’t Know How She Does It (Allison Pearson) comes to mind. The main character, a working mother, is madly “distressing” a store-bought pie at 10 PM after work in an effort to make it look more homemade before she takes it to her […]
Two years ago, I was poking around in an antique shop in Lenoir, North Carolina, a little furniture factory town in the mountains on the western side of the state, and I came across this book of postcards. Flipping through the soft, faded images, I felt like the universe was whispering to me. As I […]
I still have her voicemail message on my phone. Excited, cheerful, amazing. When I listened to it for the first time, a little part of me couldn’t believe it and a really big part of me wanted to jump out of my car and do a happy dance in the parking garage! Someone read my […]
Yes, a lot of these submissions were sent back when snail mail was king and the SASE was queen, bearing tidings of far-off lands. And by “tidings,” I mean “rejections.” About 3 years ago, I dug all these letters out of my file cabinet, organized them with a copy of the manuscript they accompanied (and […]