Writer Girls Who Make Me Scream

Today I wanna celebrate. Partly because I’m sick of my own Sad Sackery, but mostly because there are so many amazing writer girls in my world and I WANNA SCREAM ABOUT THEM! So I’m gonna. Course I’m psyched that Alice Munro won the 2013 Noble Prize in Literature, and I love that she’s willing to share her … 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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →