Queer writer of weird things
Like I mentioned earlier, my goal this year is to read some of the books I already own. I have a bad book-buying habit that is not matched by my book-reading habit—I always manage to find a book at the library that must be read right now or an e-book on sale that I can't …
Continue reading "Friday Reads, or Project "Read My Own Damn Books""
Those are just three of the things that have been keeping me from playing in traffic this week. 1. If you're awaiting Alexander Chee's new novel, The Queen of the Night, as eagerly as I am, drop everything and go over here right now to read the first chapter. It's been a heck of a long …
Continue reading "A queen, an abyss, and planet 9 from outer space"
There's a piece of paper that I've taped to my computer monitor. It has one word on it: Why? Bear with me, it'll become clear in a second. I'm not a big fan of year-in-review letters or blog posts, but I can see some value in looking back over the past year (or the past …
I'm a runner. I started running when I was fifteen and except for a recurring back injury, I haven't stopped since. So my friend Jane Campbell's essay at Hazlitt on running, pain, and persevering when you just want to end it (spoilers: it's about more than just running) was a breathtakingly awesome read. Meanwhile, over …
Continue reading "What I've been reading: talented friends, memoir, and social media"
I think the question I get asked most often as a writer is “where do you get your ideas?” And my answer to that is always “Costco. They sell them in bulk.” Here’s the question I ask other writers most often, especially after I read one of their recently published stories: how did you hear …
So, the Powerball jackpot got me thinking a lot about writing this week. For those who aren't familiar, a) you must pay attention to the news even less than I do (which is not much), and b) the jackpot is now up to $1.3 billion. Wow, that's a lot. Even if four people got tickets with …
Happy New Year! I don’t like making resolutions, but I do like setting goals. (I love making lists, and a list of goals is better than a list of resolutions to me. I have better luck saying “I’m going to do X” instead of “I’m NOT going to do Y.”) One of my goals for …
I had worked on the sequel to The Unwanted for a long time when I set it aside. Before I decided to give it a rest, I printed it out and made a bunch of edits. After I entered those in the file, I printed it out again to reread. (Most of my creative writing …
Continue reading "When your story says you’re doing it wrong, trust it"
So, I ran a 15K race this past Sunday. I almost didn't. My ankle has been bothering me for a while (that's a story for another time, though, and it would be a boring one anyway). For the past few months the most that I've run at one go has been 10K, and that's been …
As a bit of a follow-up to my last post, my friend 'Nathan makes an excellent point: The best gift you can give a writer this holiday is word of mouth. That can be writing a review, like 'Nathan recommends here (and that is such a good thing to do!). Or maybe you want to …
Continue reading "Thowback Thursday(ish) – No Wrapping Required"