About a year ago, as I was finishing up my thesis for my MFA in Creative Writing, I had a stroke. A small thalamic stroke, they called it. It happened on the day my thesis was due; I think I’d just emailed it when I noticed I was feeling numb on the left side of… Read More NaNoWriMo: Day 13
I feel like a brick hanging in the air about this NaNoWriMo thing. Or maybe I feel like NaNo’s hanging over my head like a brick. ugh. One key at a time, eh. I’m listening to Hazmat Modine, an indy blues/jazz group that makes me think of New Orleans. I normally have earplugs in when… Read More Day 13 of what?
I found a letter from my mother dated April 12, 1989. The date meant nothing at first read, then I read, “No, I don’t think your father will ‘go to hell’ (grin)” and I remembered that my father died in early April of ’89. I’m not sure why I would have asked Mama if… Read More NaNoWriMo: Day 7
Apparently it was of catastrophic importance that I clean house today. After waking at 3:59am thanks to booming music from the neighbors, I cast a bleary eye at the kitchen and must have made a subliminal decision to clean because that’s what’s I’ve done a good deal of the day. (I went back to bed… Read More NaNoWriMo: Day 6
…a tiny preview to those who’ve read my rough draft–here’s how I’ve begun revising my memoir. It’s rough, but I like the tone. What I’d like to give my readers is hope—the kind that sneaks up on you when you’re doing the dishes or taking the kids to school or petting your cat: it shimmers… Read More NaNoWriMo Rebellious Matter
Last night I taught and when I got home at 11 I had no braincells, so Day 1 was a wash. I see panic in my peripheral vision–well, and that’s kind of silly, given that I’ve set this goal myself, but nonetheless, that shadow’s creeping me out. I’m a NaNoRebel, which makes me think of… Read More NaNoWriMo: Day 2
I’ve been a member of NaNoWriMo for three years, but I’ve never participated. The idea of writing 50,000 words in 30 days makes my heart quail and my head itch. It’s now less than four hours away, and my commitment to work on two books seems insane–until I remind myself that the hours I’ll be… Read More NaNoWriMo: Eve of Day 1