Hello! At this point I've hit quite a few milestones while writing my novel: starting the story; finishing that first draft; closing out the first major revision; and so many minor achievements in between. That's all well and good—but my most recent milestone feels wholly different, because it's the first time people other than my immediate family are seeing what I've been working on. As of a few days ago, the first third of my manuscript reached the hands (or screens) of its first readers....
16 days ago • 3 min read
Guess what! After nearly four months of daily work and literally hundreds of hours of review, outlining, and writing, the revision of my novel is done! Break out the champagne! Do some weird and embarrassing dance moves! Ugly cry a little! Finally I can say that I'm finished writing and move on to the next item on that silly little list I made like a year and a half ago, right? Right?? ...right? Right. Well, damn it. I'm kidding, mostly. Obviously. We all know I'm very keenly aware of where I...
29 days ago • 6 min read
Happy New Year! I don't know about you guys, but I'm feeling good about 2026 (well—at least as long as I ignore current events and the fact that it was almost 60ºF where I'm at today). Maybe it's just that January magic talking, and all my dreams will be dashed against the rocks soon—but I'm hopeful for this year. I've got all my goals lined up, and they seem achievable. I don't know how things will turn out, of course, and, frankly, I've stopped trying to know, after last year. Time will...
about 1 month ago • 7 min read
Hello! Happy Holidays! Welcome to Coffee Chats Wrapped! For those of you who are new, this is the annual tradition in which I review my writing progress and re-recommend some of my favorite things from the year (especially books; I love books). I think the idea was a lot cuter when Spotify Wrapped was a niche thing, before basically every service and platform started to regurgitate all of the data they collect on you over the course of December—but I digress. We're having fun! I'm having fun!...
about 2 months ago • 10 min read
Hi friends! Long time no...email? Anyway. Hey! Hope you had a nice holiday! Many of you will remember that at the beginning of November I set a rough schedule for the end of this year. This hinged on me completing a 40,000-word challenge last month—and I'm very pleased to say that I did (more on that below!). Now, as promised, I'm putting out the official call for Beta Readers of my novel, codenamed Project Curses. For those who haven't encountered this concept before, Beta Readers are,...
2 months ago • 5 min read
Okay—I'm actually going to keep things brief today. First thing: apologies that this is coming a day late! Sarah and I hosted Hallow-weekend activities & a dear friend over the weekend, so I've been distracted (in a good way)! Most important thing: I have some good/bad news. The good half is that I've really hit my stride on the revision of Project Curses. The writing is going as well as it ever has. All the difficult groundwork of the revision has been laid. The story is flowing. The bad...
4 months ago • 5 min read
Hello! I've been thinking a lot, lately, about the many iterations of the Taoist aphorism that "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step": How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time; Rome wasn't built in a day; Little by little; Day by day; That Shel Silverstein poem about Melinda Mae eating a whale. (A quick digression—does anyone else have a bunch of these illustrations permanently stuck in their head? Silverstein's illustrations weren't as haunting as Stephen Gammell's...
4 months ago • 7 min read
Hi there! I hope you’re doing well, and that, wherever you are, crisp, cool fall air is kissing your skin, and the scent of leaves and sun are filling your nose, and that you’re finding some peace in a not always peaceful world. Autumn is intermittent for me, right now (peace, too, though that’s a topic for another time). Back home, in Asheville (home? Can I call a place I’ve lived so briefly “home”? It’s the place where my things and my cat are, at least), the mornings have been misty and...
4 months ago • 10 min read
Hello! So, as you (hopefully) already know, it's Monday, and Monday is, obviously, not Sunday. This is coming late, is what I'm saying—but I have a good excuse! This weekend was full of family and fun and good food and hiking and all of the other things requisite for good mental health. It was a sorely needed reprieve during this period of continued uncertainty. Which brings us to today's reflection on uncertainty and sureness. I'll say up front that I don't have any particularly great...
5 months ago • 6 min read