“I was fun, once.” Please imagine me hoarsely croaking this at you from a shadowy corner, staring at you through the hazy smoke from my own cigarette in an old bar that smells like regret. That’s how I feel sometimes — like a retired fun person — especially when talking to younger people, or to my […]
This week one of my sisters had a birthday of some numerical value. No, I’m not sure how old she is. Yes, I could easily just add five years to my own age. No, I’m not sure how old I am either. Listen, I’m the baby of the family. I’m not here to keep an […]
Happy New Year, everyone! Despite strong evidence that, globally, 2015 was a garbage year, I really enjoyed mine. I had novel experiences, made new friends, paid my rent, and consumed many meals and beers. That, in a nutshell, is the recipe for happiness. 2015 was also my first full year running this website, and it […]
When you think of the holidays, what comes to mind? Presents? Tall, decorated evergreen trees? Wreaths? Disposable cups from Starbucks? For me, it’s all of the above PLUS hours spent watching sappy holiday movies with my mom. Preferably of the made-for-TV variety. If you sit down to a made-for-TV holiday movie expecting a solid plot […]
When I was home in Pennsylvania this past Thanksgiving, I was thinking — not for the first time — how different holidays are these days now that we have a few small children in the house. Not my children, of course. I’m still a childless waste of good genes over here (KIDDING, kids are cute but scary). […]
As I prepared to type the sentence “I love celebrating things,” I had to stop and remind myself not to be dumb. That’s like saying I love breathing or sleeping. Everyone loves celebrating things, don’t they? So let’s just say I especially love it, and will come up with darn near any excuse to do so. This weekend, though, […]
This week, a very funny – and for some people, painfully true – post has been circulating from Washington Post humor columnist (and DC-based playwright) Alexandra Petri. In response to actress Jennifer Lawrence’s short but sweet Lenny Letter on why she is paid less than her male colleagues and how she’s done trying to find the […]
Welcome to the Early Morning Writing Boot Camp! What’s that? You don’t remember signing up for an early morning writing boot camp? That’s OK. I don’t remember signing up for “adulthood,” and yet here we are. The rules of Early Morning Writing Boot Camp are simple. DO talk about Early Morning Writing Boot Camp. Tell […]
One of the writer goals I set for this year was to attend more writers conferences. When I added this to my to-do list, I’d just begun querying my first novel (before taking a little sabbatical on that) and figured conferences would be a great way to get to know agents in the flesh. I pictured uncomfortably huge affairs where […]