Author: D. A. Hosek

  • It’s Lent

    It’s Lent

    Trigger warning: earnest religiosity ahead. Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. There are a lot of folks who seem to take this as a sort of performative event, kind of missing a key passage from today’s reading: “When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they…

  • Writerly resolutions: February status

    Writerly resolutions: February status

    Even though there was one less day and I missed a day of writing, I managed to get more words rewritten for the novel this month than last. I’ve also been in a bit of a research binge of late with even more books added to my list and more books read. Israel Joseph Singer’s¹ novel…

  • Song of the Month: Lavender by Marillion from Misplaced Childhood

    Song of the Month: Lavender by Marillion from Misplaced Childhood

    Misplaced Childhood is, I think, the best of the neo-prog albums that came out after the first wave of prog, with a great mix of accessibility and extravagance. And somehow, with all of that, and the fact that the album is essentially a single long song (split in two in the original release but performed without…

  • Writerly resolutions: January Status

    Writerly resolutions: January Status

    I succeeded in getting at least a little bit of writing done on the novel every day this month. At the current pace I’ll have draft two finished in mid-July. Of course there are always bits of research digressions which can throw me off (like I wanted to know what the name of the railroad tracks…

  • Song of the Month: Somebody’s Baby by Jackson Browne from Solo Acoustic Vol. 2

    Song of the Month: Somebody’s Baby by Jackson Browne from Solo Acoustic Vol. 2

    Something new. Once a month I’m going to highlight a song from my music collection that’s worth a listen or twenty. To start things off, I’m going with a solo acoustic version of Jackson Browne’s “Somebody’s Baby.” The song was originally released as part of the soundtrack for Fast Times at Ridgemont High which I don’t…

  • Wait what?

    Wait what?

    Watching I, Claudius, it was a bit disturbing to see a picture of Patrick Stewart looking like but then looking for an image to share, I  found this picture and I don’t think I’ll ever be the same again

  • Who were all those Facebook friends anyway?

    Who were all those Facebook friends anyway?

    It’s been a year since I’ve dropped off of social media. I occasionally fall off the wagon when I check the Twitter account for creativewritingmfa.info but for the most part I’m social media free and happier for it. That said, I was a bit curious about who the people I was friends with on Facebook were.…

  • Dropping off of social media has never seemed wiser

    Dropping off of social media has never seemed wiser

  • Three poems in new anthology

    Three poems in new anthology

    I had three poems come out this week in the anthology, Rising Voices: Poems Toward a Social Justice Revolution. These are all part of my Chicago Sonnets series. Chicago Sonnet #4 has its origins in a research paper I wrote in high school where, somewhat enamored of my role on the school paper, I decided to focus…