Let’s tinker in the guts of books! Welcome to Part 1 of a series called Gears & Ghosts, in which I cozy up with a stack of novels and figure out how they work, like a curious mechanic poking around various well designed haunted house rides. If you’re wondering why anyone would want to do this, …
A poet friend and I were comparing notes on the writing process recently—sublime fun for nerds. I’m mostly a novelist/essayist, but I secretly write poems sometimes (I guess it’s not a secret now), and I was curious how real poets revise their work. I say “real poets” in contrast to weirdos like me, whose poems …
Cover of “Across the Universe,” by John Lennon Vocals: June • Guitar: Rob • Chirping: local crickets I used to share music here regularly—just humble home recordings alongside little reflective essays—and I don’t know why I stopped. Pandemic, I guess? (77 weeks as a working-from-home mama? Revising my novel before sunrise, lesson planning at night?Chaotic mélange of …