Thanks, Jodie Foster: I’m a little less lonely. I hope you are, too.
I caught Jodie Foster’s acceptance speech for the Cecil B. DeMille at the Golden Globes, and thought it was magnificent. It wasn’t perfect, but it was grandly eloquent, a bit righteous, and a lot truthful. It was a cri de cœur, wanting naught so much as to be understood. In the following hours, a lot of…
Read MoreListening to people criticize your baby
“Recognizing Gabe” has been up at PodCastle for over a week now, and so has its discussion thread in the PodCastle Forum. As a writer, one of the things you want to know is whether people get your story or not. Do they understand what you’re saying? Do they think it has value? Did you do a…
Read MoreRecognizing Gabe up at PodCastle
PodCastle has reprinted “Recognizing Gabe: un cuento de hadas” as a podcast. I’m really excited that they decided to publish this as their Thanksgiving episode. I’m thankful for their support for the story. Go listen! Leave them a comment and tell them what you think.
Read Morein the midst of week five of the Write-a-thon, now with more irony
Okay, so at this point in the Write-a-thon I’m flagging. I’ve gotten two of the three stories from last summer redrafted. Both can use another go, but that’ll be later. I’ve got work done on five chapters. So, I’ve got one more story to redraft, and five chapters to work on. I tackled the genocide-God-and-me…
Read MoreClarion West Write-a-thon: Week Two
Week Two is over and sees me with work done on four chapters of my novel. That isn’t the same as four chapters done, but it’s definitely progress. The runaway royal bride has gotten to the running away part (political marriages can be so tricky, especially when you don’t actually want to marry the guy),…
Read MoreOne week down…
The Clarion West Write-a-thon has gotten off to a slow start for me. I admit, I needed a few days of just vegetating and absorbing ridiculous television, post-finals. Then I drove 700 miles to visit my people in California. That’s where I’m writing now, while I see my family and friends for a couple of…
Read Morethe Clarion West Write-a-thon
Clarion West was an amazing experience for me. It was, in all honesty, one of the best things I’ve ever done. During the six weeks of the workshop, there’s a shadow event happening, one in which anyone can participate: the Clarion West Write-a-thon. It’s designed to do two major things: bring in funds for the…
Read More“Driving for Peanuts” on Toasted Cake podcast
A long while back, I asked friends for prompts for drabbles (very short short stories) as a writing exercise. One replied, “18-wheeler drivers who are monkeys.” And thus, “Driving for Peanuts” was born. You can hear the inestimable Tina Connolly reading it here: Toasted Cake #23 If you’d like to read it, too, here…
Read Moreunexpected asskickings
Those of you who write have probably had this experience: you read a published story or novel and it makes you go, “I can write better than that.” And if you’re honest with yourself about your talent and skill, it’s true. You can. And if you’re me, you have to admit that whatever novel it is…
Read Morekeeping up with the Awesomes
As the first part of an ongoing series, I’d like to tell you about what friends of mine are doing in their creative work. Sarah Young is the featured soloist (on oboe) with the Rhode Island Philharmonic Community Orchestra’s upcoming concert. If you’ll be in Providence this Sunday, the concert will be a lovely time.…
Read Moreseveral things, catching up
I guess the simplest thing to do is to just start and go from there. * I’m writing this from California’s Central Valley. I’m here on spring break, visiting my family. I spent a couple of days up in San Francisco seeing friends. The weather is fairly beautiful, with so much blue sky and clouds…
Read Moreon turning 35
I turned 35 today. I am extraordinarily okay with that. That’s good, as there’s really not much I could constructively do about it, else. The thing that’s different about this birthday versus my previous ones is that I’m living in a new city far away from most of my people. Granted, I spent my thirtieth…
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