Uses for Boys is one of those books I read in one sitting and can’t stop thinking about. Erica Lorraine Scheidt’s writing is sparse and unusual. She explores the psyche of a young girl, Anna, who is growing up without much connection or adult guidance. The voice of Anna captivated me. Her innocence is part … Continue reading »
Tagged with women …
Sex and Violence: An Interview
The more connections I make in the writing world, the more I have the opportunity to read early copies of novels (which I love). This week I finished reading my ARC of Carrie Mesrobian’s debut Young Adult novel Sex & Violence, and I wanted to talk about it with someone. Actually, I really really really wanted … Continue reading »
Five Reasons A Person Can’t Blog
DO NOT do any of these if blogging is important to you! Ok, truth: this is really a list of five stupid things that have kept ME from blogging for the past month… 1. I got in a fight. Not like punching or anything. My mom and I drove to Idaho with my daughter and … Continue reading »
Library confessional
I’m alone in one of the library’s tiny study rooms trying to write something deep and profound. That’s what REAL writers do. I don’t want to be a failure, so I try to think deep thoughts. The door is closed and even though I’ve been here only twenty minutes (distracted by texts and Facebook and email … Continue reading »
A random bird and the nature of sadness
A lone red-breasted bird in my yard uses his beak like tiny tongs to pick up wet, rotting maple leaves. The leaves stick together, but he manages to flip over these soggy pancakes, and delve into the underneath. He must be looking for something–bugs, maybe–because he’s very diligent and focused. He doesn’t notice me watching … Continue reading »
Meeting an Elk in the Dark
Driving home last night from an impromptu going-away party for our friends’ Australian exchange student, my daughter and I spotted a male elk towering alongside the road. Without thinking, I pumped the brakes and stopped the car right in front of him. The elk’s breath made little fog clouds that floated like a spell into the … Continue reading »
Small acts of terrorism
Three days ago I was getting my hair cut when my phone buzzed. The screen flashed “Blocked Caller.” The day before this call came in, I’d run into a former colleague at the dentist. She offered her sympathies regarding my friend’s recent passing and shared that a man we both used to work with (who … Continue reading »
Home is an ocean
The first time I went to NYC and told people I was from Alaska, they asked if I lived in an igloo. Unfortunately, no. I didn’t grow up in a house made of ice. That would’ve been way more exciting than our unremarkable middle-class house on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula. Aside the from location–2,000 miles away from … Continue reading »
When a person dies
Someone I dearly loved died this week. After I found out she had passed, I turned invisible. Creatures around me became their own planets, rotating in separate orbits. Someone turned down the earth’s volume knob and the little pilotman in charge of keeping our world spinning slowed everything down. The squirrel outside my car window acted … Continue reading »
Guilty Pleasure Marathon 2012
Like most Americans, I dutifully spent Turkey Day in full consumption mode. I ate more turkey and potatoes and stuffing than I had capacity to digest and so, spent the next day combating killer heartburn and indigestion. Feeling like an idiot. I did put the hurt on the TUMS, though, and downed enough H2O that … Continue reading »
Bang!
I did it! Finally. After months of hand wringing and yammering on about how I need a change, I sneaked away on Sunday to one of those cheap places with Master in the name, signed in on the clip board, and a few minutes later…presto… Bangs. I now have a thick mop of fluff on my forehead … Continue reading »
On My Writing Residency: Going back to Johnson in my mind
About an hour drive from Burlington is the tiny town of Johnson, Vermont. Notable features include a wool store, Lovin’ Cup Cafe, a syrup store, a college, and the Vermont Studio Center (VSC). If you’re a writer or artist interested in doing a residency, consider putting VSC on your short list. Not that I’m a … Continue reading »
Letting my junk hang out
So I’m at this retirement party for these two guys my husband used to work with and I’m talking to this woman–another former co-worker of my husband, but also a friend of mine–who mentions she read (at least started to read) the original story I tried drafting in real-time on this blog. That story was … Continue reading »
Oh, Vermont. Oh!
So it’s my last day at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, Vermont, and I’m already sad. And sappy. I’ve met the most amazing artists from all over the world, and I hate leaving them. Did I get a ton of writing done, not really. But, oh! What an experience. I met Ron Carlson, who … Continue reading »
Haircuts and other acts of bravery
I need to cut my hair off. It’s long and heavy and ridiculous. But I don’t want to. Maybe long hair reminds me of being young… That’s the problem, see? I’m NOT young. I’m on the verge of forty, and the locks need to go before I “cross over.” So today I went back to … Continue reading »
What I remember about summer camp: Sleeping in a covered wagon, kissing boys, and buying candy at the camp store.
When I was a kid we lived near a Bible Camp where I went to camp most summers. Aside from kissing boys and buying candy and falling in “kid love,” my most vivid memory is sleeping in a covered wagon at a camp called “Wagon Train.” Instead of cabins, we slept in cramped rows of … Continue reading »
The Best Bad Book Titles EVER!
My friend Carrie Mesrobian is getting ready to have her first novel published. With a real publisher and everything. The book is YA and is going to be rad and she’s gonna be famous and all that. So yesterday, Carrie mentioned that she still doesn’t have a title for said forthcoming novel, which she’s just been calling … Continue reading »
What I do when I’m depressed about writing
I just read my last post about creating quirky characters and groaned. Out loud. And made that hideous pig-snorting face reserved for people who have just done something stupid. What kind of an idiot makes herself into a cutsie fake character on a blog? To make matters worse, I read this passage by Charles Baxter … Continue reading »
THOSE kind of people.
This week I’m reading Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower and, of course, now I’m thinking about how I like quirky, distinct characters in writing. Also I’m wondering how best to create my own characters like Charlie, the book’s first-person narrator. If you haven’t read the book, it’s worth the read. Unless you hated Catcher … Continue reading »
Like a trip to the girl doctor that you video then post on YouTube.
That’s what it feels like, this writing insanity: exposing yourself, then begging people to distribute the evidence. The recent news that I’ve actually had my work accepted by a journal is bittersweet. I’m completely neurotic about what my bio should say, my head shot, if my mother will disown me for the content of the … Continue reading »
It may be small, but it still counts as being published, right?
Five hours ago I received an email from Narrative magazine congratulating me on having my teensy story accepted for publication. I’m so happy that I feel like puking. Narrative magazine! How I love that publication. If you don’t already have the phone app, you really should, because it’s rad. So what, you might ask, would anyone want to read on a … Continue reading »
Why I heart my MFA Program
My last post was about my choice to pursue on MFA in creative writing. This one’s about which MFA program I chose and how I chose it. But first I’d like to echo the article Poets & Writers wrote on the topic this past fall and say that my decision to attend a program and … Continue reading »
