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Recuperating - Book Style

I had surgery two weeks ago. Nothing major and I'm just fine, but my orders were to spend a good amount of time on the couch recuping. I laughed, because, as a writer, that's pretty much what I do all...

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Stealing Words

(Edna St. Vincent Millay)The more I write, the more I'm convinced novels are the easiest form to master. Sure, they take a lot of time, but all that space! All those pages to wander and figure things...

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Something is Better than Nothing

This saying has been floating around Pinterest a lot lately, and every time I see it, I stop and think how true it is. And how I am often the one on the couch I need to lap.Since the surgery, I've been...

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A Matter of Trust

Why is it so hard to trust our instincts in writing? Is it because we secretly believe there is some trick, some fool-proof method to writing that, if only we were privy to it would lead to our certain...

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About Doubts

Pam Houston posted this on facebook today and I wanted to pass it on:About the heavy doubt: it's normal; it's the territory, the province, the wallpaper in what Jim Dickey called the cave of making. It...

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Language Is so Punny!

These are thanks to my son's English teacher, who thought they were a necessary introduction to understanding Romeo and Juliet. Don't ask.Happy Friday. :)A bicycle can't stand on its own because it is...

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A Little Conflict is Good

I  had an eighth grader write me last week and ask, "What is it publishers are looking for when you want to get published?" How can you narrow this down? They want good grammar and clean punctuation....

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Changing the World (a comma at a time)

You know what comes after grad school? Grad school loans.You know what doesn't pay off grad school loans? Writing.This is true. I didn't graduate with my finished novel, like I'd planned, and while I...

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It's Friday; It's a Good Thing!

I used to do this thing every Friday where I listed things I was grateful for, or "good things" in my life. I loved doing that. Then I went back to school and couldn't think of anything.Just kidding.I...

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The Muse is Not My Mascot

I saw this on Pinterest the other day. Putting aside that the nerves in my teeth tingle at the lack of apostrophes, it made me stop and think for a few minutes. I read this on the internet all the...

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"Something Hard and Glorious"

I stumbled upon this article by Andre Dumas and thought it worth passing on to all my writing peeps.This road is hard. It is wonderful, and we are so lucky to do it, but it is often hard. This putting...

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Life after an MFA

This week I climb on a plane and head to Oregon for the last time. Even though I officially finished in January, my thesis presentation over and my diploma in the mail, the cap-and-gown hooplah isn't...

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The Way It Feels to Walk

That's my smiling mug. Cap and hood and crazy-armed gown. Officially done.I'm so glad I made it to the official graduating ceremonies. At the end of January, my thesis done, my diploma in the mail, I...

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What Sucks About Being a Writer

I'm not talking about the hard work of writing. Writing itself has its frustrations and difficulties, like any job, but I'm not talking about the putting of words on a page.I'm talking about being a...

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Snaps for Vacation

 Our vacations haven't been going so smoothly over the past year. Case in point, last year's vacation of DOOM.Anything that can go wrong, has been. While we've managed somehow to stay away from...

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My Kingdom for a Well-Placed Comma!!

(I stole this picture from the Grammarly facebook page. They have hilarious literary posts! They also have a cool website where you can paste in your document and it will check it forspelling, grammar,...

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She plans to dream...

When I was a little girl, I used to sneak into our attic and curl up on my sleeping bag under the rafters with a pad of graph paper and draw my future home. In my head I had pictures of it: a...

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Imagine Amazing

Today, the kids tromp off to school again, freshly sharpened pencils and neatly stacked paper and backpacks that have yet to be scarred and dirtied by the dragging through buses and shoving in lockers....

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Sometimes You Just Need a Marriage Counselor

"We are like a married couple who has been through the gauntlet and need to return to simpler times to fall back in love. That's us with writing. We must fall back in love. We were in love before for a...

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When Words Are Dangerous

It is banned book week. I'm not sure how widely this is known outside the writing/library circles, but within that community, it is definitely shouted about. Which is why, even as an author, I tend to...

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