When Certain Writing Turns One Vulnerable

Okay, so, yeah, about this horror novel stuff that’s been going on… I didn’t think my first big piece of published work, the one that’s going released for mass consumption in a few months, would be a horror novel. In hindsight, I should have. I’m good friends with the genre. Have been since I was … Continue reading →

I don’t need your idiom.

***** Every morning, right upon waking, I have a little routine. I check my fingertips, especially the fingernails. I know what you’re thinking. It’s peculiar. No, wait. That’s not what you’re thinking — You’re thinking it’s flat-out weird. I’m weird. But don’t we all have our own little rituals upon waking? Mine can’t be the … Continue reading →

How to Experience Hell Without Really Trying

  I realize I haven’t written much lately. I’d partially expected as much since school started up again, post-Christmas. The department continues to have a lot of inanity going on thanks to the truly stupid decisions made by the morons-elect in public office (the crazies in the House are once again honing in on abortion right … Continue reading →

The Hell of Timed Essays

Note: I wrote this some time ago and had posted it elsewhere, but I will soon be in the midst of scoring practiced, timed essays in preparation for the one that counts for a hefty grade at the end of the term.  I found this more than a bit appropriate… Dear Anti-Writer Who Created The … Continue reading →

That time.

That time you walked into a store, a store you used to really like, and found nothing there. Nothing at all. No one stopped to ask if you needed assistance because there wasn’t a person in sight. That time you stood in the shower stall, waiting for the water to grow cold, not moving under … Continue reading →

A Spring Break of Self-Doubt

I’ve not gone anywhere over the break this week, and I’ve no plans to do so, really, as it’s a week in which I’m steadily querying publishers and agents. In other words, I’m Getting Shit Done. I don’t like the fact that my job, ironically one in which I have to teach writing, keeps me … Continue reading →

Ten Minutes of Bitching on Pitching.

So I’ve done something I never thought I’d ever do: I’ve committed myself to attending a writing conference’s pitch sessions. It’s an internal commitment, mind you, not a I’ve-paid-the-conference-fee sort of set-in-stone commitment. My workplace has had me add this to my Faculty Goals form, probably because if I am successful (even though the odds … Continue reading →

Advice for the Chronic Insomniac

To My Fellow Anxiety-Suffering Chronic Insomniacs, I write this with shaky hands and a foggy head, so if you cannot possibly comprehend me here, you must understand my predicament. You wouldn’t be reading this — or attempting to read this through the haze — otherwise.  Instead, you’d be among the Lucky Ones. You know, the … Continue reading →