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Where Words are Born
I want dark frayed linen and mismatched china on the windowsill. Woolen socks drying on the line in early morning, meandering fog and dried nailed lavender…
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Only and Everything.
It is August of two thousand twenty one. I am rocking my daughter to sleep, listening to the sound of uninterrupted life that comes from our…
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No, Artists Don’t Have a Creative “Sixth-Sense.”
When my daughter was a newborn, I’d wake up in the middle of the night just a few moments before she would. From perfect sleep, my…
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Nashville.
Some things are too terrible to feel. Somewhere in the deepest, most primitive part of the brain, a spark is lit; a mechanism switches on. The…
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The Race of Faithfulness
I’m reading my book. Not as in, my book of the month, one I pulled off the shelf at the charming but over-priced bookstore on Main…
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People My Age Aren’t Having Children.
I’ve heard peers say that children mean the end of a life. I close my eyes, hoping she will mirror me. I think of all the…
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The Moon and Me
She slaps a hard blade of ice white light across my eyes, peeking in from the highest corners of my bedroom windows. “Let me be,” I tell her. “Don’t you…
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Year in Review: My Word for 2022
“Pshhhhhew.” My daughter’s tiny hand soared slowly in front of my face as she mimicked the fireworks she was witnessing for the first time. I watched…
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Should Everyone Like Your Work?
“YOU!” The stranger shouted at me from across the room. I was standing in a dark, seedy bar off Magazine Street in New Orleans, with stone…
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My Top 5 Books for Any Aspiring Writer
photo credit @1924usWhile the writing world is divided on prefaces, I’m going to start with one. Mostly to say that when it comes to writing, the…
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What Grey Clouds Can do to a Routine
“Motherf*%$er.” I mumble under my breath. I hear my one and a half year old daughter give the word her best try from her car seat…
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To the Gen Zer in Seat 31D
I have never been to Knoxville until now. Or, I should say, 10p.m. last night. Rocketing through the storm soaked atmosphere of Tennessee at 500mph on…
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When the Work Might be BAD bad.
My mother has finished reading my novel. She is the first person to read the whole shebang. Of course she is: these are the kinds of…
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Where Would we Be Without Martyrs?
The Documentary that Got me Asking I grabbed the slender black remote, nixed the television, and leaned back on the couch to wipe my eyes. My…
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Make better.
If you ever feel the fog settling in, always remember to ask yourself, “What can I make better?” Often it’s as simple as the little wrapper…
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The Writing Truths we Forget to be True
I can see him: the genius writer. He’s holed up somewhere with the kind of light that makes your eyes go bad and the kind of…
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Alert: Clean filter
I tried to tell myself I’d just been busy, but I knew I’d hit an unparalleled level of spiritual dryness. It wasn’t for lack of trying,…
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How the Scroll is Undermining One of Our Most Important Writerly Duties
“Writers pay attention,” she said. I thought for a minute. Do I pay attention? I thought I did. Maybe? No–I did; I certainly did. I’m self…
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And just like that.
6/24/22:”…there was a commotion in the firmament, and the smallest of all the stars in the Milky Way screamed out.”
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Dusting Off and Getting Up: a Rehearsal
A deep sigh. Little shame filled cheeks glowing in front of a keyboard where little shame filled fingers flit before you now. I am back. A…
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When to Shut Up and When to Talk: The Key to Character Description
I’ve been thinking a lot about my main character lately. I’m writing a novel. Did I tell you that? And it has a main character, and…
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One Writer’s Gentle Reminder About the Muse to Another
You’re standing next to the punch bowl, wondering who ever thought the paper straw was ever a good idea as you pull a bit of soggy…
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My Baby Turned One Today: What I’ve Learned in One Sentence
A lot, but mostly: human beings can do incredibly, incredibly hard things–especially with love in their heart and a willingness to see what is beautiful. Whatever…
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What Any Writer Can Learn from Holy Week
A Look at the Passion for Writing I was sitting on a plane, yellow highlighter at the ready, when I read one of the most influential…
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THE CARTRIDGE 