Oh boy, oh boy. Today’s exercise on scene writing asks us to take a look at a chapter we have written. To analyze its Hook, Intensity, and Promptage. And then see now we can strengthen each ascpet. Because I don’t have a chapter of Awake & Asleep yet, I’m […]
The twins left. It was only Morgan and me in the apartment—Oslo ice blue as ever, sweet; distant Earth—we woke up late, scrambled up some sardines for breakfast and sat around all day watching videos on YouTube. There was stillness in that apartment, stillness and the occasional laugh from a […]
Big-breasted women, five steins a hand, and charming men in green, short-short overalls stuffed each other’s mouths with bratwurst and beer till they couldn’t rock no more. Bavaria. Its capital: München. Things played out a little differently there for the boys and me, who had gotten used to the exaggerations […]
“Rick was a bro, a gentleman seen few and far between, of a caliber unknown to the race of man, the headless baton twirler in a parade called Life, a backpacker extraordinaire, a counter-demon and Lord of the Pismire. Rick Callaghan.” (The Summer Abroad, Part III, Chapter 8.) Thus […]
After interminable edits, formatting marathons, and emails during breaks between class to lay down the marketing bricks of this project, it is done. Everything that is not writing is finished. Anything that is left to be, will be left to be. The novel, ladies and gentlemen, is out now. You […]
The girl facing me was called Conchela. She had a heart-shaped face and a ponytail so tightly pulled back that it was hard to tell where her forehead ended and her hairline receded. She seemed real at first, but later I came to learn the only thing real about her […]
The Summer Abroad — now available on KINDLE. Purchase here. Did you buy it? Good. On the fence? Let me tell you a story. Perhaps it’ll help you make up your mind. So, storytime. Gather ’round the fire. (Wood crackles. Embers spark. And a wolf howls in brisk autumn […]
Three dark themes stalk this journey into self-publishing: Bursts of tinkering, troubleshooting, and anxiety. Of course there are luminous elements holding hands with me as we progress. But those lights shine in between and at the end of the journey. Last Friday, I received the edited draft from […]
This week, I met with an ex-workshop peer from way back (from last year). She is currently working on her own thesis project, which explores the current fiction-workshop model, how it fosters or damages originality, and what universities can do about it. Having participated in the same workshop ourselves, she […]