“Reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another’s skin, another’s voice, another’s soul.” – Joyce Carol Oates We're all allowed a little self-indulgence on our birthdays, right? I decided to treat myself and created the image above, with my most recently published novel alongside a quote from the literary giant, Joyce Carol Oates. What she says captures exactly how I feel about reading, and I always try to explain the same sentiment to my students. I …
Writer
I love writing, and I also love to write ABOUT writing, classic female authors, and whatever else might be on my mind. I hope you enjoy the variety!
What I Watched
Lately, I’ve been laid up, after having an unexpected, traumatic tooth extraction, and then coming down with Covid. I am fully vaccinated, boosted, practice good dental hygiene, rarely go out and wear a quality mask whenever I do – so this state of affairs has felt extremely unjust. (I am in the process of writing the whole story in far more detail, so please stay tuned for that post.) Anyhow, I have been in pain, exhausted, and unable to do much, so I have been watching more TV this last …
Broadcast News in the #MeToo Era
Broadcast News has always been one of my top ten favorite films, ever since I saw it in the theater as a teenager. When I was young, I enjoyed it for its witty banter and the depiction of its feminist yet feminine protagonist, Holly Hunter’s Jane. At one point, Jane’s boss says to her sarcastically, “It must be nice to always believe you know better, to always think you’re the smartest person in the room.” Holly Hunter/Jane responds, deadpan, “No. It’s awful.” Watch the scene The movie is …
Favorite Daughters: Path to Publication
It’s been several years since I’ve published a novel, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been writing. I started Favorite Daughters roughly six years ago, and I went through multiple revisions and rewrites, and a long process in finding a publisher. But I am happy to announce that Black Rose Writing will release Favorite Daughters in August of 2022. Why the wait? Traditional publishers have a long, complicated process and they want to make sure they get everything right. Today, I am celebrating …
Swim Challenge
This fall, as part of my MFA program in Creative Writing at Lindenwood University I took a course in revisionist fiction. When I told them about the course, my friends and family would ask, “What’s revisionist fiction?” Revisionist fiction is when you take an original work, and riff on it. For instance, there’s the original Pride and Prejudice, and then there’s a plethora of revisionist works, like Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies, or Ibi Zoboi’s excellent YA novel, Pride, or Curtis Sittenfeld’s …