The blog has been quiet as of late. The print journal has been shipped back and forth, from New York, to California, to Canada, then back around again. The next time I see it, it […]
Opinion & Democracy
Getting Away
There is something to be said for a change of environment. For the past couple of weeks my writing has been stuck, stagnant. The answer was to get away. I am a creature of habit. […]
Fisherman Poets
“They might wax about the versatility of a deck bucket or of romance in rubber boots, but they also describe a livelihood that can kill those who pursue it.” —From an article in the New […]
Banging Away At It
For 21 months I’ve been working on the same piece and it’s driving me crazy. Most every day I turn on my computer, open the same Word document, and start the process all over again. […]
Favorite Firsts
The first line of a book always stays with me. I like to devour books, somehow imagining that I can climb into the book, become a part of the story as the ink on the […]
A Quickie
Anna, AJ, and I decided to hop on the Blue line and head down to Wicker Park to see Joseph Salvatore read a “Quickie,” at Inner Town Pub’s reading series. The writer’s that participate only […]
Manly Writing v Girly Writing?
Two weeks ago I wrote a post about storytelling and a savory sea urchin. It was a love story—or, rather, my way of relaying a story someone had told me. It was soft, slow and effective. The […]
Don’t Yank My Yankerhorn
There are some things we overhear in our daily lives that stay with us, and sometimes they impact our writing. “I understand Benjamin Franklin invented bifocals. I don’t know who invented glasses, but Franklin, he […]
Writing and the Daily Grind
I’ve been thinking about how important it is for writers to write every day. I never put my writing first because I never think I have the time. Since I have to pay the rent—I […]
Ideas About Origins
“Writing is a beautiful act. It is making something that will give pleasure to others later.” —Susan Sontag, from Reborn: Journals and Notebooks 1947-1963 Luc Sante begins his New York Times review of Susan Sontag’s newly published […]