Like a lot of writers, I fell in love with writing at a young age. I wrote and illustrated my first story at the age of 7 and showed it off to anyone who would look. A few weeks later, our tiny local newspaper interviewed my family, and the journalist must have found me relatable […]
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A Pleasing Chime (IWSG)
January is (blessedly) in the rearview mirror, though February is charging in with baggage: we are expecting one to two feet of snow in Central Illinois over the next 48 hours. There hasn’t been that much snow around here for many years. I’m equal parts appalled and delighted. The beginning of a new month also […]
Continue ReadingRegrets (IWSG)
Do you believe in regrets? So we’re on the same page, let’s define what we mean by “regret.” Merriam-Webster has a surprisingly poignant definition of the word: “sorrow aroused by circumstances beyond one’s control or power to repair.” In other words, mourning a choice; a wish that you had done something different at a fork […]
Continue ReadingLosing NaNoWriMo & IWSG
Officially, I participated in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in November. Officially, I was aiming for 50,ooo words on my new manuscript. Officially, I failed. I always knew that 50k was a stretch goal — ok, more like an in-the-stratosphere, no-way-in-heck goal — but I was determined to try. I knew I needed a kick […]
Continue ReadingAm I a Writer Yet? (IWSG)
Like many writers, I aspired to earn the title from a very young age. I felt called to writing in a way I did not feel called to other pursuits — a vocation, not just a “career.” For years, that calling scared me spitless. I was worried that if I didn’t get it right on […]
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