Before we get into our Friday cartoons, I need to give you the heads up that this blog will be going dark for a few weeks. I’ve got some writing deadlines, some work stuff, some personal stuff…basically, a little bit of everything. I figure the beginning of June is a great time to take a [...]

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Yesterday was quite the literary day for my mailbox: The Sun, Fence, and Poets & Writers all arrived at once. Because I’ve been a bit overwhelmed with work and writing lately, this post will be a short and sweet “Guess the Magazine” contest. You know, if you define “contest” as something that has no prize [...]

Happy Valentine’s Day. You’re a writer, so clearly you need some love advice, right? Well, you can start by turning to the love lessons learned in The Bell Jar, The Great Gatsby, Jane Eyre, and others. You’ll learn not to idealize your partner, to avoid manipulators, and that the problem person in the relationship just [...]

I moved to a new desk recently at work, which was a win-win because I got a window and was forced to clean out my desk. It wasn’t pretty, that’s all I’ll say. Perhaps this pile of fortunes from five years of my peanut-noodle-tofu lunches offers a glimpse of what I was dealing with. In [...]

Yes, it has come to this: a post consisting entirely of the mugs that hold my trusty tea or coffee while writing. We’ve reached a new low, friends. But without further adieu, please enjoy my caffeine receptacles and the stories of how they came to grace my writing desk: Above: This is the mug that [...]

Some links for your weekend: First, an amusing Chronicle of Higher Education post from by an anonymous English faculty member who describes his response to a certain type of student who seeks an MFA (and his letter of recommendation): “Some people develop an irrational desire to buy a vehicle they can’t afford. They have Car [...]

I’m sitting on my purple couch watching the snow come down. Cirrus is sitting behind my head and Saucy is keeping a close watch on the tree branches moving in the wind. It finally feels like winter here in Cleveland. In the coming days, I am going to bake dozens of cookies and see the [...]

On Saturday, I received a viocemail that made me laugh, scratch my head, and ultimately look up an English actress with a fabulous name. Here’s the message in all its glory: “Do you know how much like Agatha Christie you look? It’s amazing. We’re watching her in color right now. In color! Didn’t know that, [...]

link link link link link link link link link link link Bonus: Second-Person Narrative Enthralling You: In a piece of writing that had you intrigued from the very first clause, a second-person narrative you are reading right at this very moment is absolutely captivating you, sources reported. “Wow, I can’t believe this is happening,” you [...]