Recent Articles
On (temporarily) letting go of routine in the life of a creative
(Photo by Steven Salazar) A couple of weeks ago my husband and I had the privilege of attending a creative conference called Creative South. All week leading up to the conference I felt anxious and a little overwhelmed, because there was still so much writing work to...
On the ‘there isn’t enough room for all artists’ lie
This week my husband and I spent three days at a creative conference. Mostly it was designers and illustrators, no writers at all, but still it was amazing to be in a place with so many other creative people and admire their work from the sidelines. And then. On the...
On calling ourselves by our true name: Artists.
It took me way too long to call myself by what I am: Writer. Because I worked another job, and I had a title there—journalist—and what I did in the margins—writing—wasn’t really who I was. Or at least that’s the lie I believed for years. I tried to do without writing,...
On being a parent and a creator
I wear many hats. There is the Mama hat, which includes all those others hats: Hurt-kisser, nose-wiper, diaper-changer, listener, teacher, discipliner, cook, meal planner, encourager, homework-helper and so many more. And then there is my creative hat: Writer. Often,...
On plagiarizing in the world of art
Recently I followed a poet whose work I really, really liked until I read something about her accusing another poet of plagiarism just because the other poet wrote in short sentence fragments, like she did. The poet admitted that, while the other poet did not...
On rejection in the life of a creative
Lately I have been immersed in the work of submitting a novel to potential agents. It is a long and tedious process but a process that is necessary if one wants to become traditionally published. And because it has always been a dream of mine, I have spent the last...
On writing for an audience
“Writers are often told not to think about their audience, but I think that advice can be difficult to use. The audience then becomes something vague and amorphous. How do you communicate with that? Better let the audience be someone real—a lover, a best friend, a...
Write a GREAT Book Even When Your Time is Limited
