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A collection of 560 posts

bloggers

My Reading Life: Heather B. Armstrong

Recently, I dug out my trusty (and dusty, and dead) Kindle, recharged it, and used it to preview some files I was working on for a client. One of the books languishing on my Kindle’s homepage was The Valedictorian of Being Dead by Heather B. Armstrong. I thought, not

Book Reviews

My Reading Life: The Abortion Books, Part 5 (Personal "Anti-Abortion" Stories)

Having “crossed over” from one side of the abortion debate to the other during my life, I continue to find stories of political, personal, or moral “conversion” compelling. I also wanted to be fair to both sides, to read from both sides, and to do my best to keep my

100

My Reading Life: Bleaker House by Nell Stevens

Ah, the lure of “If Only …” to writers. If only I could quit my job, then I could really focus on my writing. If only I was independently wealthy. If only my kids were older. If only I had my own writing space. If only I could get an MFA.

Book Reviews

My Reading Life: The Abortion Books, Part 4 (Personal "Pro-Choice" Stories)

I need to start this post with a disclaimer. I read five personal stories from women who were in some way connected to the abortion debate. To keep this post from being even longer, I divided the personal stories into two posts: those written by women who believe abortion should

Book Reviews

The New Year's Resolution Post

It may be a little late for the “New Year’s Resolutions” post, but “better late than never” is my motto since becoming a parent (only after becoming a parent did I understand that it would seem “reasonable” to put certain tasks off for YEARS at a time). This year’

Uncategorized

Once You're a Writer

“When I was starting out, I thought that I would write for six months and do other things for six months. But it turned out that once you’re a writer, you’re a writer, and that’s what you do, and you can’t escape from it. It is

Book Reviews

My Reading Life: The Abortion Books, Part 3 (Novels)

I only read a couple novels on the topic of abortion, and both were from the young adult genre. I know there are probably hundreds of novels out there that deal with this topic, but this was never meant to be an exhaustive project — just a way to prioritize books

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My Reading Life: The Abortion Books, Part 2 (The Academic Books)

After almost six months, I’m wrapping up my self-directed abortion books study. Originally, I was going to talk about the books in the order I read them, but instead I decided to group them topically. I read three books that I would call “academic” treatments of abortion. Beyond Pro-Life

Blogging

Meander North Today

Earlier this fall, I had the honor of being one of the final pre-publication readers of my friend Marie Zhuikov’s new book, Meander North, which is on sale now! Although Marie is a member of my writer’s group, this was my first time reading Meander North. The book

book lists

My Reading Life: The Abortion Books, Part 1

During my recent book purge, I found certain books jumping out at me. First, This Common Secret: My Journey as an Abortion Doctor by Susan Wickland, and then, its counterpart: Redeemed by Grace: A Catholic Woman’s Journey to Planned Parenthood and Back by Ramona Trevino. I need to read

books

My Most Significant Book Purge. So Far.

For my New Year’s resolution, I said I was going to cut the number of cookbooks I own in half. I have not accomplished that, but I have done myself one better. I cut my ACTUAL book collection in half. Approximately. * * * For a few years now, I’ve had

authors

Author Biography Book Review: Star Child by Ibi Zoboi

Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler by Ibi Zoboi My rating: 4 of 5 stars A very readable and compelling biography of Octavia Butler told in prose and poetry. Written for middle-grade readers, it focuses on the author’s childhood and the historical forces that shaped her

The Writing Life

Writing is Not a Solitary Pursuit

Recently, a member of my writer’s group died. It was unexpected, and the three of us who remain don’t know very much about it. He lived alone, and another member raised the alarm when he didn’t respond to the emails about an upcoming meeting in his usual

reading

It's the Yearly Blog Post!

So, have I mentioned that I don’t do nearly as much writing as I used to or want to? I had babies, a pandemic happened, I’m the kids’ “primary caregiver” (read: I’m a SAHM who doesn’t get a lunch break), blah blah blah. But you know,

motherhood

Writers of the Future Honorable Mention

I found out a couple weeks ago that a short story I entered into the Writers of the Future contest received an honorable mention. According to the judges, that means it held their interest enough to read the entire thing — which is a compliment, considering that the story was about

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Trouble Processing and My Year of Expanded Reading

I have been having a lot of trouble processing my life lately. And the world. In January, I found out I am pregnant again. It came as a surprise, which meant I immediately girded myself to get used to a whole lifetime that looked a little different from what I

covid-19

Notes From My Isolation

(At the end of this post, I have some suggestions for creativity and self development during isolation. If you are not interested in my own experiences/reflections, please feel free to skip straight there.) Like many of you, I am self-isolating. As a freelancer and stay-at-home mom, my work life

author interview

Author Interview: Sofiya Pasternack

I’ve been using my writing time lately to meet some grant and contest deadlines, so I got behind on posting this interview I did for New Moon Girls with Sofiya Pasternack, author of Anya and the Dragon. One thing I love about doing these interviews is that they always

Fairy Tales

Young Writers Conference: Retold Fairy Tales

This week I gave three presentations on retold fairy tales to elementary and middle-school students at the Conference for Young Writers at SMSU in Marshall, Minnesota. I have very fond memories of this conference, so it’s fun to be able to “give back.” It was the CYW I attended

grants

My Writing Resolutions: 2020 Edition

It’s been a bit of a tradition for me since I was a teenager to make “writing resolutions” every year. This year, I have two. 1. To submit my middle-grade novel taking place during the 2008 recession to at least 10 places — presses and/or agents. 2. To apply

appearances

My Appearance at Books on Third

The Marshall Area Fine Arts Council (MAFAC) recently opened/rebranded Books on Third, a gift shop that sells awesome artwork, jewelry, and BOOKS by local and regional authors. I was honored to be one of the authors invited to attend the grand opening. I went through the store’s stock

Book Reviews

The Line Between: Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia My rating: 5 of 5 stars What I loved about this book was the way that it portrayed the creative process. Zappia GETS IT when it comes to the desire to escape into an imaginary world, when it comes to that world feeling

books

Wanted: A Speaker for the Dead

As my husband drove me to work the Monday after his father died, I said, “I wish we had a Speaker for the Dead for your dad.” He said, “I was thinking the exact same thing.” In Orson Scott Card’s novel of the same name, the second in the

identity

Finding My Writer's Identity Post-Baby

Last week, I had my writers group meeting in Arizona. This may not seem unusual, unless you know that two members of my writers group live in Minnesota and that I live in South Dakota. The fourth member retired to Arizona, and we’ve always talked about having one of

fairy tales

Rumpled Book Talk

A few weeks ago, I traveled back to my hometown to give a talk about my Rumpelstiltskin retelling, Rumpled, as part of the Marshall Area Fine Arts Council (MAFAC’s) read local series, which hosts book discussions with local authors. A recording of the talk is below. In the talk,