Yes, I know - blogging is so 2003. Nevertheless, here you are… and here we go!
Oh my goodness gracious.
Y'all, it's been a trip. As a matter of fact, it's been several. In the past two weeks I have driven a thousand miles, visited with more wonderful writers than I can count, and read-and-critiqued 678,000 words. That is no imposition - I LOVE reading stories and getting a chance to visit with their authors - but like... you know how you have three platefuls at Thanksgiving, and when you belch afterwards, you can kind of taste everything at once?
Read MoreY'know, it's always a strange experience coming back from a convention. Kind of feels like going home from Hogwarts for the summer. There was this magical place, full of fantastic people and all the most delightful conversations... and now I'm back here in the real world, belatedly plugging back into the news, the inbox, and the Face-feed, and y'all - I'm not sure who started what, but absolutely EVERYONE is pissed off about something. I swear this happens every time.
Read MoreOkay, so you know that whole thing about karma: whatever it is you dump out into the cosmic ocean on a daily basis will eventually wash back up at your front door. I can't say for sure that it's true, but I have been striving (however imperfectly) to pour out Exxon-Valdez quantities of love and realness and radical generosity. Helps cut down on water weight, if nothing else.
Read MoreSo apparently there's this rule in improv comedy: whatever bizarre scenario your partner invents, you don't refute it. The answer is always "yes, and..."
I have been getting a lot of mileage out of that idea, especially when I travel. "Hey, will you hold this snake?" "Sure thing!" "Should we head over to the Makeout Room and listen to some X-rated slam poetry?" "Uh, yeah!" "Want to shack up in my auntie-in-law's spare bedroom and then have birthday okra for breakfast?" "Boy, do I!" (It was phenomenal, by the way.)
Okay, so I just finished my first-ever "master class retreat" in beautiful sunny Eugene, Oregon. It kind of wrecked me. The students were phenomenal. I have a massive girl-crush on the organizer. And getting to spend four whole days training up a bona-fide word-slinging *squad* has ruined me for everything else. It's weird and gross and lame to admit this, but being the big name on the marquee is a whole new level of ego BDSM.
Read MoreOkay. I've spent a week hiding out at an undisclosed location in the Oregonian hinterlands, mending dented promises and waiting for my words to grow back. Now the results are in: Oregon is officially better than you.
Don't feel bad. It's better than me, too.
It feels increasingly trivial to talk about writing things these days. But if you’re feeling decidedly ‘whelmed’ by everything else on your Facebook feed, this might be useful to you.
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