Category Archives: Blog

…1. Well, actually two.

The Holiday Blog tour is upon us!

Starting TOMORROW you can read some up-and-coming, some bestselling and some soon-to-be best selling authors. And they’ll get you in the holiday spirit!

We have something for everyone, from poets to fiction writers and some memoir folks are coming to party too.

And if you’re a really good reader, some will have a present for you. And if you’re a super good reader, and read all the stories, there’s a present for you, too. But you have to wait until the end.

First one up is Julia Amante, author of Evenings at the Argentine Club and Say You’ll Be Mine. If you leave a comment on her post, you can be entered to win one of her novels.

Here’s the full list:

As I was cleaning my desk off today, I came upon a note to myself I wrote during the last part of my draft.

“Revision is the dividing line between hobby and craft.”

I reflected on this thought. Is this the definition of a writer? Essentially, anyone with a pen and a piece of paper can write. So what makes something like a to-do list not art and something like A Tale of Two Cities literature? What is the difference between a grocery list and my thesis?

Revision is the difference, I believe. Revision with the purpose of creating something valuable and with direction to create art. No. Not editing. There is a difference.

So what is revision? I wrote a good how-to post earlier in the semester. That post is a good draft-by-draft instruction on how best to edit your copy.

This post is more about the purpose of revision. Why we revise–and that’s just more than the we-have-to answer. Again, I’m not talking about editing.

What I am talking about is purpose. What is the purpose of your revision? Answering this comes after a series of questions the writer has to ask themselves.

Here’s how:

After you’ve put the piece your revising away (space is extremely important) you need to ask yourself and answer honestly what the piece is about. Place that summary in one sentence. Is that the focus? Does your plot and characters reflect that sentence. If it doesn’t, its time for you to re-evaluate your piece. It maybe time for a rewrite or to cut out everything that doesn’t have anything to do with what you wrote in the sentence.

These are hard cuts. Really hard cuts.

It’s during this time that you have to think about what you and your story are actually saying. That’s easier said than done, that’s for sure. But the decisions that you make now can help the arc of a story. This is also the time to ask yourself the hard question, is what I wrote the truth to the story and the characters? You may not know the answer to this question, which is okay.

Revising, like the creative part, is its own process. Just know that you’re not done with revision until you know the answer to these questions.

So in reality, these are the cities I need to figure out how to live in. Soon! Now my only question is how can I formulate that cool Scottish accent. Hummm. Must think about this more later.

Top 10 Literary Cities — National Geographic

Now that the thesis has been turned in and I’ve had one night of restful sleep, I have some work to do. And I’m completely excited for this!

This post comes from a whirlwind of procrastination. My thesis, which I should really start calling my novel again, is nearly done with its second draft. (Yes, I realize that the construction of that sentence makes it seem like the thesis drafts itself…doesn’t it?)

But I am not in the mood to race down that track to the finish line. In reality, I want to drop to the ground, roll up into a little ball, and eat chocolate until I explode.

I don’t have a title for my novel.

It’s T-minus three days until this thing needs to be in the mail and I’m ready to just call it quits. Who needs an MFA any way. I do. I need one. I want one. And I’m so close.

But what to call my child? Already I finished it, ended my discovery phase, which I enjoyed. Now I have to name it? But, but, why?

Naming it makes it all real. Like naming a child while it’s still growing in its mother’s belly. Another level of reality sinks in, nesting among the growing, festering doubt. I name this thing, truly name it, it’s real.

And it’s not because its a book. I’ve written a book before. A bad one. A really, really bad one. Afterall, writing a book only shows that you can finish a project and I am a finisher, which is why I will finish this degree. No, it’s because this marks so many things in my life–the beginning of the next step in my life whatever that may be, the right to call myself an artist, the ability to allow myself to think big because sometimes bigger is better.

This also marks the ending of an era. I have no more excuses. I can write well enough for some amazing college to give me a degree. There are no more excuses, You are not playing at writing, you are a writer.

Naming my thesis means I’m naming my future. My life’s about to change and it both excites me and frightens me.

Facebook is a great place to find new places to publish. Literary mags need to advertise and the cheapest way to do that is on social media. So I came across an interesting journal that makes sure everyone gets something.

Our Stories is a journal that gives feed back to every submission submitted. No joke. For every contest or submission for the journal, the writer best written feedback. Here’s an explanation from their website.

For every submission we receive year round, we give personalized feedback. We’ll give our general impressions, point out the strengths and weaknesses and give you suggestions on how to fix your story. Submitting to Our Stories is free –and worth it. We have staffed Our Stories with short story writers and novelists to help you because we know what it’s like to send manuscripts off into the void, only to be rejected, never knowing what went wrong or how to fix it.


How awesome is that! Now, from what I see on their site, there are some contests that require a reading fee but if you’re a writer working in a void (who isn’t) then this is money well spent. 


So the video above is their video on how they do what they do. Enjoy. 

Oh bookcase, my bookcase, where for art thou?

In my tiny apartment, (if I called it a flat would it be more exotic?) there is a space for a bookcase.

And if you saw my post from the other day, I obviously need one. I’ve needed one for a very long time but waited to be able to get the exact right one.  But if I don’t hurry, I may not be able to get one at all.

A casualty of ebook wars is the book case. According to an Economist article, Ikea is redesigning its popular bookcase because people are buying less books. 

Less books, less bookcases?

I’ve known for a long time that I was the rare child who wanted her room to look like a library. I wanted bookcases of books rather than plastic, yellow haired Barbies. Books are my friends and I wanted them to have their own dream house–sharp, decorative book cases.

Even now as an adult and MFA student, books are still my friend. They revived me at a time when I was lost and confused and unhappy–my Lifetime movie moment brought to you by Junot Diaz, Cristina Garcia, and Roberto Bolano.

Despite this kinship with pages bound together with glue or thread, I took to the Kindle and nook instantly, wanting the Kindle back during its $400 days. I considered selling something, jewelry or soda cans, to get my hands on one. Eventually, and fairly recently, I purchased a nook. Then an Ipad. Then I had the Kindle and nook app. Yes, this writer and lover of books embraced technology and nearly abandoned the book.

Why? Space. No bookshelf. Ironies never cease. But also for the other myriad of reasons, better to transport, fits in my purse better, quick book download, etc.

But can’t I have them both? Can’t I have my wonderfully delicious nook (I actually like reading better on the nook than the Ipad though taking notes is easier on Apple’s machine.) with its easy to download books and free book Friday and cute, decorative covers, and super light weight design for my carry on? And can I also have my worn, bold typed, I can still smell the glue, love it like Christmas morning paper book that  just makes me smile?

And my bookcase. Can I have my bookcase too?

In my bibio-utopia there is room for everyone. There is room for technology and for book version 1.0. I love them both like a mother loves her children, equally. However, it looks like I am in the minority in that view. The move in this chess game is digital and if the publishing world has learned anything from its red-headed cousin the newspaper industry, the rule is change or be left behind. Checkmate.

And so the bookcase must come along and await other thing to proudly display. That thought is depressing enough to make me cry and short circuit my e-reader.

What of my plight? If not a bookcase what will fill my bookcase size space in my apartment/flat? The world may never know.