-Sumedha So, technically this was a speech that I performed in a Toastmasters contest. But blog, speech, really, they are all ways to communicate so I thought this might make an interesting read! So here you go... When we are kids we don’t care about what the world thinks. We don’t know social norms or... Continue Reading →
The dog tourism parable, an edifying tale on how to rescue stories from yourself – Part 1/64
A few weeks ago, during a lull in Austin’s unusually rainy autumn, my husband and I and our two dogs went out for a walk at one of our favorite parks. It is rugged and off-center enough to have remained somewhat confidential in dog/park crazy Austin. A three pronged path runs through it, which means... Continue Reading →
Writing Novels & Doing Improv: The Long and the Short of It
by Marissa Macy It's hard to write about improv theatre without sounding like a warm and fuzzy camp counselor, or a fiendish cult leader. And trust me, improv has turned me into both of those things. I do, as a matter of habit, stand in circles and recite things that sound like satanic rituals with... Continue Reading →
A Novice Scrivener User Tries to Explain Scrivener
By Nicole Stump Perhaps you’re a more straight-thinking human, but when I’m writing anything more than an email, my notebook or Google Doc increasingly spirals out of control. I’m continually shifting, reshaping, reimagining how the piece will come out. Because of my non-linear approach to writing everything from poems to essays to fiction, it’s no... Continue Reading →
Going to Writing Land
I've been fighting for clarity lately. I've been off center and getting back on track has been the clumsiest act of dropping marbles, picking them up and dropping them again. It will pass. It has to. Forward movement. These poems are a reflection of my current attempt at finding my way through this uncertain phase... Continue Reading →
Walking is Writing
I am a person who likes to walk. I have a car that I hate driving because I am bad at it, driving, and I invariably picture my death every time I get behind the wheel. I have a bike, but I like walking better than biking. I like walking in a city more than... Continue Reading →
An Exploration: Why Do Women Like To Read About Fucked Up Shit?
Following the “Me Too” movement, I’ve told my partner and my closest straight male friends that I just assume every man in my life has done something terrible to women - guilty until proven innocent - and I feel no remorse for this. I don’t have to look far to find reasons that support my... Continue Reading →
Full Circle
I accepted representation from a literary agent for my novel (hi, Erik!), and announce this on Facebook to a tepid reception. No one is a prophet in her own country. But I do receive an invitation from an old friend for dinner. She read some of my early autobiographical stories, the ones where I still... Continue Reading →
When the library is your temple, examination of a crisis of faith
I don’t want to presume, but I suspect that every avid reader has one day asked themselves: what do I get from this? Am I just reading compulsively? Like any activity that requires a large time investment we want to know that it is repaid somehow. Books should make us wiser, better stewards of our... Continue Reading →
