Category: Uncategorized
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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 brain turns one palm out, and wraps the other around the heart. Do something. Everyone is screaming at the sky, their voices a choir of unharmonious clamor. Lips curl…
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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 Street. (Yes, my town has a true-blue Main Street, that is in fact the main street on which to be). I’m reading my book. I’ve finished my novel, you…
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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 things I would have been doing two years ago, before she came. In the sea of white noise, there is a gentle brushing on my hand as the tiny…
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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 her, baffled by her absolute lack of fear. She gets that from her father. I wrapped my arms around her a little tighter and closed my eyes, the artillery…
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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 floors older than some American cities, the slick grease of a thousand good nights under my stilettos. “Me?” I pointed at myself; my other hand busy keeping my ballgown…
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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 best thing to do is to write. “How-To” books, in-person seminars, online courses, critique groups, and even brainstorming walks to the ice cream shop all serve as a means…
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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 sitting on the coffee table that could get thrown away. Or maybe it’s the bed. They may be tiny, but they are better. And better, whatever degree, is better,…
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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 weather that makes you crave a good knit cardigan: oversized, of course. Outside, the wet clouds clap as he crushes out another stodgy cigarette. He hasn’t left his room…
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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, either. Ok, it was sort of from lack of trying. But I hadn’t done nothing. I’d picked up my devotionals every once and again, when the slight whisper of…
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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 admittedly nosy. That’s what happens when you love a good story, whether it’s one you overhear at length, catch a snippet of, or even just a glance at. I…
THE CARTRIDGE 