Kakalak is open for submissions, and I encourage you to check them out and consider submitting your own work. I know I plan to submit mine. Here’s what you need to know: The Kakalak 2021 poetry and art contest is now open for submissions, and the deadline for submitting is May 23, 2021. Kakalak evokes the spirit of the Carolinas from the Outer Banks and Low Country to the Piedmont and Appalachia. Originally a regional Read More
Category: a writing life
trust in the time of coronavirus
Other than my 52 in 52, I haven’t written much recently. My head has been down, focused on getting through each day with its new challenges and blessings. A pandemic wasn’t in any of our imaginings of spring, I don’t think. But that is where we find ourselves, even if some still somehow believe it’s a hoax. We are sequestered, distanced from loved ones, jobs, activities. Confronted with finding new ways to communicate, maintain music Read More
52 in 52 week 1, 2020: Wordsmithy
by Douglas Wilson, nonfiction I read this once a year for encouragement and inspiration and to realign my priorities as a writer and as a person. It’s a quick, well written read full of tips on cultivating a writing life, or any creative life, with lots of suggested readings and clear-cut takeaways. I highly recommend it.
happy holidays and things to come
This has been a doozy of a year for us. Here’s to looking forward, celebrating the people we love and who love us, and remembering the gift of a Savior. Coming up in 2020, I plan to revive 52 in 52 – 52 words each week for 52 weeks reviewing 52 books. I better get to reading! Wishing you and yours a joyous Christmas and a Happy New Year. grace for each moment, one moment Read More
waiting and a writing life
If you’ve noticed my absence, I’ve been dealing with a rotator cuff injury lately. Partly due to carrying around Baby A before he left us – my aging body can’t handle the strain of a nine-month-old like it used to, but that’s another story. And also probably due to our minivan door’s motor that stopped working properly. Yanking it open and shoving it along the track to put Baby A in his car seat and Read More
bare on ChronicallyLit
Fifteen years ago I took my first personal interest writing class. At that point in my life it was more therapy than craft, and I wrote my first essay about journeying through infertility in that class. That essay, entitled bare, is finally published. You can find it on ChronciallyLit. grace for each moment, one moment at a time
kakalak 2018
Kakalak 2018 is available for pre-order. Once again I am honored to have my work in the upcoming issue. One poem of mine will be included, along with two of my photographs, one of which won the 2nd place art award. I’m excited to see them in print come December. The cover price is $15, but the current pre-order discount price is $9, (not including shipping or applicable sales tax). Place your order at the Read More
being an introvert at a writers conference
Not long ago, I sat on a hotel bed, a pillow propped in my lap, my fingers tapping on my iPad keyboard. Tucked away in the Blue Ridge Mountains, my brain headed toward overload. It was the first full day of the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference, and the evening keynote the night before already felt like days ago. Many people liken attending a conference to drinking from a fire hose, and it’s true. Read More
when books don’t sell
Recently, I spent a few days at a writing conference in the Blue Ridge mountains. One of the options presented to published authors was to bring books to sell in the conference bookstore. Though my book is poetry, and poetry generally doesn’t sell well, I decided to take several copies of Counting Colors along. Never having had a book published before, it felt strange and at the same time kind of wonderful to mention I had a Read More
a loss for words
Ever since the publication of Counting Colors was set in motion, I’ve felt a strange inability to write. Obviously, I’m physically capable, but forming words into sentences, and then sentences into coherent paragraphs, has been laborious. Every word is hard fought. Holding my book in my hands, seeing my words on each page, and knowing I created this collection of words, is surreal. Exciting, yes. And also bizarre. I know I at one point was Read More