Hey friends, You may have noticed, as of late (how could you not?), that my newsletters have been both sporadic and intentionally vague (bordering on frustratingly opaque). Well. No longer. I have three truths to tell you. This first truth addresses some ambiguity about a certain secret project I hinted at the end of last year. The long and short of it is that last fall, after a period of discernment, I decided to apply to a single Master of Fine Arts (MFA) program in Creative Writing so that...
26 days ago • 6 min read
Hey there, I’ll start off by acknowledging, here at the top, that I did miss the first newsletter this month—which is more or less what I want to talk about today. I have two versions of an explanation for you: The short version is that things have been bad lately, and something had to give. The long version is that things have been really bad lately, for a lot of reasons, and my capacity to write, and to write about my writing, or really to do much of anything, has dwindled to little more...
about 2 months ago • 7 min read
Hey! Nice to be back! The last month has been...well—not what I expected it to be. My personal life has been hiking a series of steep peaks and valleys; my professional life is exhausting, a disheartening downward slog, and precarious in the best of circumstances; my creative life is strained, as a result. My month of focusing on the novel and easing back into my routines was not what I'd hoped, is what I'm saying. But! But. But— I had a good month, actually. I've been thinking about and...
3 months ago • 9 min read
Hello! How are you today? Good, I hope—maybe enjoying some nice weather, or just a lazy Sunday at the end of a long week. I've had a lovely weekend myself—a respite, after several difficult weeks—filled with friends and coffee and music and movies and games. A bit of a palate cleanser; a reset; a renewal. March often feels that way to me. I know that spring doesn't actually start for a few weeks more, but already it feels like the beginning of something new, or the end of something old, or at...
4 months ago • 5 min read
Hey there! You may notice that this is coming on Monday instead of our regularly scheduled Sunday meeting—but since it's a holiday weekend, it's kind of a tomato-tomato thing, right? Right?? Well, not really. I fully meant to send this out yesterday, but got sidetracked for a few reasons: Sarah and I spent a really lovely weekend with family and friends in St. Louis; I'm still just really, really drained as a result of current events; and I feel a tad silly, writing this newsletter about...
5 months ago • 5 min read
Happy Groundhog Day! Or, perhaps, unhappy groundhog day. The little guy saw his shadow, if you hadn't already heard—and honestly, same. I feel that. Things appear cold and dark, at present. Okay. Let's get into it. I have an inconsequential confession to make. Not like a fun, "this is a set up for a big personal achievement!" type of confession, mind you; more a "hey, I've been kind of low-key lying" type of thing. I didn't write a word of fiction in January—or really work on my novel much at...
5 months ago • 7 min read
Hey there! For many of you this will be coming very late in the day (again!)—that's on me! It's been a busy, busy couple of weeks (not for fun reasons—just work and life stuff), so writing the newsletter has gotten bumped down my list of priorities once or twice (or several times). I promise it won't become a habit! Anyhow: In this edition of the newsletter you'll find a couple links to a blog post for Coffee Chats Wrapped 2024—finally! As with last year, I hope that it's interesting to you...
6 months ago • 5 min read
Happy New Year! Let me start off by addressing the (somewhat small) elephant in the room: I missed the last newsletter! Endless apologies—between tying up some lingering projects, preparing for the holidays, and traveling to India for the wedding of some dear friends, I lost the thread on getting the newsletter out. I promise it won't happen again (probably)! Rest assured that Coffee Chats Wrapped 2024 will still appear as a blog post on my website (sometime in the next month, I think) and...
6 months ago • 5 min read
Good evening! Sorry to bother you so late in the day! I hope your holiday weekend has been lovely—filled with family, friends, good food, and time for relaxation. Mine has been, and as a result, today’s newsletter will be brief. I’ll leave you with just two things here at the top. First is a reminder, for those who’ve been around a while, and an announcement for those who are new: Coffee Chats Wrapped will be returning this year! The format of the next and final newsletter of 2024 will change...
7 months ago • 3 min read