Category: Being a Writer

November 1, 2018

Being a Writer, Personal, The Beacon Campaigns, The Lady of Souls

“The Lady of Souls” turns 4!


Four years ago today, I achieved my biggest life-long dream: I became a published author.

First of all, let’s just stop and marvel at that idea for a moment. How often, really, do we manage to achieve the one thing we’ve wanted most since we were kids? And that’s a shame, really, because there is so much that we could do, if circumstances were just a little bit more in our favor, or if we had just a little more time, or if we were able to try just a little bit harder. I know how incredibly lucky I am, to be able to say that, and I couldn’t have done it alone. I had enormous support along the way. From my parents, from the very beginning, when I was a little kid and telling people I would be an author one day; and from friends and family, who cheered me along the way; and from my husband, who did so much I literally can’t list it all. I’ve had emotional support, labor support, financial support, to make this happen. Not everyone is so fortunate. Thank you. I love you all.

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July 20, 2018

Being a Writer, Personal

A Novelist Walks into a Poetry Workshop…


I approach poetry much like I do a Jackson Pollock painting: that is, while I fully appreciate the value and artistry of the work—and even, depending on the piece, can quite like looking at it—I do not, at my core, understand it. I know this. I know this, because if I am being honest, I cannot fully differentiate what makes his work Art, while the paint that accrues along the drop cloth on an artist’s floor is not. And this is on me, because I know there are people who do understand it. I know there is something there to be understood.

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April 27, 2017

Being a Writer

Author Influences: The Mural of My Voice


I’ve been thinking recently about all of the things that can influence a person.

Because none of us becomes a writer in isolation, and every book that we read adds something to our experiences—but some of them do a little bit more than that. Some of them speak to us so deeply that they add a whole new paint color to our palette, opening our eyes to brand new ways of looking at books, language, storytelling. These books become turning points in our development, and without them we would not be the writers that we are today.

Four authors have done this for me.

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