Author & Ecologist
Our classic interdisciplinary course Ecology Through the Writers Lens ran under a different format this year, with local day trips instead of week-long overnight visit to the Flint Hills. Of course, everyone masked up. Photo by Amy Milakovic. As this extraordinary year winds down, I find myself reflecting not so much on what 2020 took... Continue Reading →
Normally this time of year I would be at my annual Women's Writing Retreat, more affectionately known as Dollbabies Week. Like so many other spring activities and conferences, that plan was washed away by the tide of Covid-19. My literary colleagues and I have organized a remote edition instead. It won't be the same, but... Continue Reading →
Avila University started its regular spring semester about two weeks ago. Seems I've hardly drawn a breath, and the month has already slipped by! After some worry that I might be teaching an overload again this spring, I managed to negotiate with the powers that be so that my teaching obligations remain within contract. This... Continue Reading →
We're well into classes at Avila, but in quiet moments I still reflect on my summer trip to Germany and all the things I learned and saw traveling the country with my family; visiting the stomping grounds of relatives and ancestors. I've long been fascinated by family histories, a habit instilled in me no doubt... Continue Reading →
Saturday I attended a meeting of the Heartland Authors Guild, which goes by the wonderful acronym HAG. We did a flash fiction workshop including an exercise based on sensory prompts. Prompts were given to us by chance - drawn from a deck of cards. Mine read as follows: the sound of a garden hose What... Continue Reading →
It's been two years since I've made it back for Dollbaby Week at VAB - a magical seven days of writing with ten of the best women I know. We come from all walks of life and write across several genres. Together, we create a sacred place of laughter, conversation, mutual support, and inspiration. My... Continue Reading →
One of the drawbacks of the surge in self-publishing is that too many writers have been allowed to believe an inspired work is also a publishable work. As a result, inspired works are too easily thrown into the market before they are publishable. This is an easy slipping point for any writer. After... Continue Reading →
Week 3 Query Totals (Agents Only): Submitted: 30 Rejections: 4 Requests for Partial/Full: 0 I'm well on target to meet my goal of at least 40 queries by the end of this month. After that, I'll take a break from querying, in part because once August begins I need to give my full attention to... Continue Reading →
Week Two Query Totals (Agents Only, Cumulative Tally): Submitted: 22 Rejections: 3 Requests for Partial/Full: 0 I promise I won't be posting these numbers every week, in part because it's going to get depressing pretty quickly. For the moment, I'm only counting rejection letters, but many agents reject by simply not responding. As those response... Continue Reading →
Week One Cumulative Tally (agents only): 10 submissions 1 rejection 0 partial requests 0 full requests Yes, it's true: I have, once again, embarked on the ego-debilitating task of querying. There are few activities more onerous for a writer than querying. What better reward for the hard labor of finishing a novel than to spend... Continue Reading →
