Just another writer
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New Poem: Chicago Sonnet 43
I’ve got a newly published poem from my Chicago Sonnets sequence in the premiere issue of Bronze Bird Review. While numbered as #43, this is actually the second sonnet I wrote for the sequence, depicting the young women of Lincoln Park as seen through the eyes of age and regret. The issue can be purchased…
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I can assure you it most certainly is NOT “War and the World”
One of the things that was a source of amusement for me in college was the fact that the Russian word Мир (“Mir”) meant both “peace” and “world” and we would joke that when the Soviets would declare that they wanted peace, they were really saying that they wanted the world. The obvious next step…
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“A Blessing of Tears”: The Story Behind the Story
My latest publication is an excerpt from the novel I’m currently querying, We, the Rescued, entitled “A Blessing of Tears.” It’s a little startling to think of how long ago I first started working on this chapter. According to my computer, the creation date for the first draft of the chapter is 20 June 2017, so…
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Writerly resolutions: October status
This was a month of getting stuff done thanks to a pair of little writing retreats. I did one long weekend at the Bellarmine Jesuit Retreat House for a formal writers’ retreat, although I ended up skipping the structured parts because most of it didn’t really feel relevant to me. Then a couple weeks later,…
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The big countdown
On the eve of my 18th annual 39th birthday, it’s been a year of death for me. My brother and aunt have both died in the last twelve months. This has hung over me for much of the year. Perhaps this is why my life expectency is down to 86. As of tomrrow, I will…
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New post on my mailing list: The mysterious case of the story of the attempted theft of George Washington’s skull
I’ve neglected my mailing list for quite a while, but I’ve finally gotten back into writing for it with a new post. Check it out here and maybe subscribe if you like what you see.
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Writerly resolution: September status
This month I workshopped a new story, and while it didn’t get the rapturous reception that I hoped it would (largely a generational thing, I think), it was paradoxically a boost in my mind for the story. Getting a chance to see who responded lukewarmly and why made me feel more secure in what I…
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Writerly resolutions: August status
First draft of the new story is done and I’m into the rewrite. I’m thinking that this might be the first story of a collection about the main character. I’ve committed to a workshop date in September to keep me from dawdling with this story. Still paused on the novel. I’ve been doing a lot…
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If I were asked for my ten books of the 2000s for the New York Times list
Not that they asked, but if they had, I went through my reading log and did the painful winnowing down of books I’ve read published in 2000 or later down to ten “best” books (the last seven to get cut really hurt) to the following (in order by publication date): Housekeeping: A Novel by Marilynne Robinson…