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So…this thing happened
where I wrote two more books between this post and the last one. I got the idea for my 2nd novel shortly before finishing the first, and wrote the first chapter for it whilst making and then eating a sandwich in my kitchen. It was a sort of surreal experience, how the first person narrative…
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Rejection + Mood Board
I’ve officially received my first agent query rejection! While I can’t exactly say I’m thrilled about it, I can tell you there’s a weird relief to having gotten over that hurdle. It’s not exactly the feeling of “whew! ok…now I can move on…” but it’s something close to it. So to mark the occasion (which…
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Favorite Reads of 2023
Relative to most people I know, I read a hefty amount of books in a typical year. Relative to myself, I read an absolutely insane amount of books in 2023. Like, it’s so many books I’m not even going to say how many because it will no doubt lead to a probably well-deserved amount of…
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Querying sucks
This is a story about my dream literary agency and finding out they were open for submissions as soon as I finished writing my book but none of my early readers had finished reading it yet and learning I only had FIVE WEEKS to get feedback, make the appropriate changes, and figure out how to…
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It is finished
Welp. I did it. I wrote a novel. A whole one. With a beginning and a middle and an ending. It even has a plot! Can you imagine? I kind of cried a little when i wrote the final sentence. Which is sort of weird for me, but like…seemed fitting in the moment. Cuz…What a…
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A brief story about accidentally writing a novel…
At some point over Christmas break 2021, after discussing my plan to give writing a try, my friend Lara recommended to me Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way. It’s a workbook of sorts, designed to walk you through de-cloging the creative pipes in order to unlock the potential of your artistic endeavors. One of the methods…
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I’ve been published!
Big news last week for a brand new author like myself… A piece I wrote about gun control has been published in The Tennessean! The article* titled “What ‘well-regulated’ means to me,” is the first piece I’ve ever submitted to a major publication and I feel incredibly fortunate to have had it picked up. I…
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Why being poor is so expensive
For several years in my early twenties I worked at Starbucks. It was a decent paying job and gave full benefits to employees working a minimum of 20 hours a week which, in the early aughts, was a rare thing. I had access to an amazing healthcare plan for $30 a paycheck, had dental and…
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The power of “Why?”
A modified version of this piece was originally published by The Nehemiah Collective as a part of a series of essays exploring the concept of a child-like faith. I spent the majority of my childhood wishing I was an adult. Upon waking on my 8th birthday I ran downstairs and proudly announced to my parents…
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Why criticism is not disparagement
The other day I ran across a social media post from an acquaintance complaining at length about how the National Archives website placed a “harmful language” disclaimer on (gasp!) the United States Constitution. Now, the post made it seem like my acquaintance was just randomly perusing some historical papers, minding their own patriotic business, when…
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