Look

I promised fellow bloggers Maggie at Fly Away Home and Aubrey at Write Aubrey Write that I would participate in the author tagging game called the Look Challenge. The game’s for bloggers who are also writers and is a way to let others sneak a peek at your work. Here’s how it works: Search your manuscript for the word “look” and … 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 →

My first time getting paid for it.

Usually I give it up for free. Now I feel used and I haven’t even held the check in my hand, just a contract promising me $250. (I hear that’s good money for what I just did.) Yeah, that’s right. I sold a piece of myself…A piece of writing. I thought it would feel better, but … 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 →

Why I Decided to Get an MFA

Two more months and I’ll have completed my first year in Pacific Lutheran University’s low-res MFA program in Creative Writing (fiction). Super excited. I often get asked about the program–What’s it like? Why’d you choose it? Why low-residency?–all the questions I asked when I was trying to decide 1.) if I should pursue an MFA, … Continue reading →

Writing A Magical Story

This week I’ve been obsessively searching for the magical ingredients of successful story writing. Not like the obvious stuff that we always talk about–character, theme, plot, blah, blah. And please don’t suggest I go read Joseph Campbell. I’m talking about the magic! Secret somethings that pull you in and keep you reading (or watching or listening), … Continue reading →

Who needs writing groups?!

I made the transition from working 40+ hours a week as an executive manager in a public agency to becoming a full-time writer and graduate student over a period of several years. At one point during this transition, I was participating in three separate writing groups. Now I am frequently asked, “Were all those writing … Continue reading →

Writing in “Public” (or Charles Dickens Did It)

I’m taking a break from the hideous story I’ve been posting so I can capture what it’s been like to write like an insane killer: serially. Okay, that’s dramatic. But writing a story in chunks and putting those drafty chunks out there for others to inspect feels as if I’m barfing on stage in my underwear. … Continue reading →

Baby, Part IV

Content Removed

Baby, Part III

Content Removed

Baby, Part II

Nayelli wants to take a shower. She needs one, actually. It’s been two days. Two days since she’s had a sanity break—free from kid noises, hands pulling at her clothes, and everyone wanting to be held. Nayelli needs self-time, just warm water and steam and blank walls and her body standing alone in the center. … Continue reading →

First Story: Baby, Part I

This is my first Hot Pink Underwear story. About this girl who quit her job during a huge recession. Maybe this is a true story. Anyway, this first part’s boring. She starts a grad program then loses a leg to gangrene and adopts a circus monkey named Popo. Maybe that’s fiction. I should start over. There’s this … Continue reading →