A Writing Life

The Joy Inquiry

What would happen if the news about rejections, bad sales, crappy reviews was simply that: news? What if I didn’t make it mean anything? Like…
I’m a bad writer
I’m not successful
I’m not smart enough
I’m not good enough…
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Joy

I am beginning the year with an inquiry into joy. Specifically joy in my writing. Last year, the joy  dribbled out of me. Let’s just say some things happened and gradually, writing began to feel like a duty. A have-to.…
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Love

When you’re given a prompt like love or longing, it can get a little esoteric. It works to ground the a big topic in a concrete object. It is way to tell something slant.

The Prompt

Love in terms of…
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What I Know Now

I know I have one body.
One body. One planet from which to land and take off.
In the beginning, it feels like we have many bodies.
The infant.
The toddler.
The little kid.
The teenager.
The young woman.
And…
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Eyes Closed

  I’ve never been one to stare at the stars. The ocean. The Mountains. Sunrises. Sunsets. I’m all about them. I gulp them in with my eyes. Stars. Nighttime. Not so much. I don’t know what I’m looking at. It’s…
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The Knee Poem

My poem, The Knee Poem, was published and selected as Editor’s Choice for the Ocotillo Review! I had the pleasure of reading it at Malvern Books in Austin, TX this summer.

To see me read the poem, click this link…
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When Is The Right Time?

I kept waiting for the event.
Stroke.
Heart failure.
Back legs giving out completely.
But the event didn’t come. Sombra our 15-year-old Labrador/Whippet mix was not going to have an event. He was going to stay. That was his job.…
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My First Webinar…Yes!

Kwame Alexander’s talk about his path to publication and winning the Newbery Medal for the Crossover is about saying yes. He believes in the yes. So do I. So when Writers League of Texas Program Director Michael Noll emailed and…
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