It’s that time of year again: National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo). I’ve participated in Nanowrimo 1.5 times before, but usually find myself too busy as a teacher to dedicate enough time to writing. This year, there’s so much going on that I’m writing to preserve my own sanity—so participation is mandatory(ish). I present to you…
I’m having an issue. I have so many ideas that lead to so many awesome projects that I start… …and don’t finish. Currently, there’s my WIP (work in progress), which stands at 60 chapters and 80,372 words and is so close to the finish line, but needs another round of revision on the first and…
So, I read Alyssa Cole’s When No One is Watching over Labor day weekend. I was blown away. I doubly recommend this book as it’s so captivating and simultaneously thought-provoking. Every time I put it down, I couldn’t stop thinking about it and had to go back and finish it. How to summarize it… So,…
My primary goal this year is not to let teaching run my life, especially now, when there’s so much going on in the world. I need time to be me and do things I like to do. So, work is not happening at home this year. Reading, however, is. Here’s what’s lined up for September….
As dust swirled around him, Amo pulled his rickety wagon over the rugged landscape of The Past. The only sound for miles was the squeak of his wagon, which he knew better than to take outside without oiling first. But Amo was too aggravated that day to care. He didn’t think about the drones that…
At a panel discussion in 2015, editors gathered to discuss the lack of diversity in the publishing industry. Editors noted that “writers of color [WOC] face insurmountable challenges,” acknowledged that “the game has always been rigged,” and concluded that “publishing is a privilege.” Five years later, the publishing industry is still overwhelmingly white (79 to…
Max had a wife and son. Both were dead—killed off during the cleansing of ’71. He lived in the ruins outside C—, with a woman he slept with and his brother, Amo, who had lost his wits. The woman rarely spoke and was hardly around. At present, she had ventured off to find illiterate work…
I’ve just finished The Water Dancer, by Ta-Nehisi Coates. I’m still digesting, but thoughts on the novel are forthcoming. All good thoughts. This month, my reading is a little all over the place. In April, I did a lot of retail therapy in the form of purchasing books, so now I’m sorting through the aftermath….
The following short story is about a teacher teaching from home in a dystopian society. It is a draft and is possibly the first installment in a series of related, but standalone short stories. Written about a year ago. “The illiterates of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but…
Yesterday was the first day of the last year of my twenties. 30 is now officially less than one year away, and there are so many things I thought I would do by then. When I was a kid, I fully expected to be married by now, with one child here and another on the…