Queer writer of weird things
And here we are, at the finish line. To recap: This month I’m taking part in #WriterInMotion, where I write a 1,000-word story and document my revision process. Last week, I posted my third draft, which was revised based on the insight and input from critique partners K. J. Harrowick and Ari Augustine. This week, …
Continue reading "Writer in Motion, Week 4: Exile (second critique group feedback)"
The story thus far about the story thus far: This month I’m taking part in #WriterInMotion, where I write a 1,000-word story and document my revision process. Last week, I posted my second draft, and this week, I got feedback! Some extremely helpful observations came from critique partners K. J. Harrowick and Ari Augustine. They …
Continue reading "Writer in Motion, Week 3: Exile (critique partners feedback)"
Happy New Year! I hope you’ve all recovered from your hangovers, but if you haven’t, I’ll type quietly. I hope 2020 is off to a good start for you because, let’s face it, 2019 kind of sucked, didn’t it? The world is on fire (literally), people in power are evil (literally), and it feels as …
Continue reading "Being resolute in 2020, or “Not one more end-of-year list.”"
You may recall that I once said I never throw anything away when it comes to writing. Well, this is where I out myself as a big fat liar, because I've started and deleted three attempts at writing this post already. I would say I don’t know why I’ve let so much time pass between …
I’ve been doing a lot more writing lately. I have to credit that in part to a two-week writing challenge I did recently, 1,000 words of summer, an idea by author Jami Attenberg. The challenge: write at least a thousand words a day for two weeks. There were a couple days I fell short. Most …
There’s something uniquely wonderful about spending a week surrounded by people who “get” a) being queer and b) being a writer without my having to explain myself.
Four years is not such a long time when you think about it. On the other hand, in such a short time a lot can happen. Leaders change, geniuses die, Kate Bush stubbornly does not come out with a new album. Did you know that in the last four years you've traveled 3.76 billion kilometers …
Continue reading "Don’t measure success using someone else’s yardstick"
I had lunch recently with a friend of mine, Karen. In addition to mutual appreciation of many things (wine is high up on the list), we also have a deep and abiding love of pasta, grilled cheese sandwiches of infinite variety, and pizza. So, as we caught up over a plate of spaghetti and a …
For the past couple years, I’ve tried to come up with one word or phrase that could capture my focus for the coming year. In 2016, it was “completion.” I wanted to complete the draft of the novel I was working on. And I did that, although in 2017 I ended up setting it aside …
At the beginning of 2017, I set a goal for the year of actively seeking rejection. What this meant was that I would send out my short fiction to contests and magazines, apply for fellowships and residencies, and otherwise just get my work out into the world so that other people might possibly read it. …
Continue reading "My year of embracing rejection, year-end roundup"