Your art matters, even in times like this
The former director of the MFA program I graduated from signs all of his emails “Keep writing.” I used to think, oh! That’s nice. A little boost to my day, a reminder to keep pen to paper even when I’m…
I visit with museum guards
Museums are my happy places. I visit them when I find a new city; I re-visit them when I go to cities I’ve been to before, too: I like to know what new things they are exhibiting, and maybe what…
My students want to read more, and it is a huge win for two reasons
Hello, everyone. This will be a short post, but I have been thinking about this thing that happened since it happened, and so I want to share it with you. Some of you may know that I teach creative writing…
The lenses through which we see may not be our own
When I was 18 or so, I went to Oregon to be a camp counselor. All the counselors had camp names–Seaweed, Alpine, Whinny, Weed, Shaggy, Scribbles, Moondog, Kramer. One of the ones I admired the most was about my age,…
Shade Mountain Press, on Small Presses: Live-Blogging The Business of Being a Writer
This is Part 7 of a multiple-part live-blog of Jane Friedman’s The Business of Being a Writer. Parts 1-6 can be found here. Writer and editor Jane Friedman believes writing can be a career, and her latest book, The Business of Being a…
On Word Count: Live-Blogging _The Business of Being a Writer_
This is Part 6 of a multiple-part live-blog of Jane Friedman’s The Business of Being a Writer. Parts 1-5 can be found here. Writer and editor Jane Friedman believes writing can be a career, and her latest book, The Business of Being a…
On Branding: Live-Blogging _The Business of Being a Writer_
This is Part 5 of a multiple-part live-blog of Jane Friedman’s The Business of Being a Writer. Parts 1-4 can be found here. Writer and editor Jane Friedman believes writing can be a career, and her latest book, The Business of Being a…
On MFA Programs: Live-Blogging Jane Friedman’s _The Business of Being a Writer_
This is Part 3 of a multiple-part live-blog of Jane Friedman’s The Business of Being a Writer. Parts 1 and 2, on networking and the concept of “Good luck,” respectively, are here. Writer and editor Jane Friedman believes writing can be…
The Way We Love Books
The other day, I posted a photo of me and the mister’s four sets of spectacles, with the caption “House of nerds.” A Dick Francis novel I was in the middle of re-reading sat face-down next to them, as an…
Of Obituaries and the Passing of Regrets, Part 1
I spent a good amount of time last week editing obituaries for my day job. While such a task can feel honorary, part of the work made me sad. Not for the passing of the people, exactly–most of them were…
