Words of Redemption

So I have the flu. Actually, I’m recovering from it now, but I’ve had it for the last three days. I think I caught this one on my way home from Las Vegas on Sunday. It started as a dry cough during the day, and turned into spaciness, stuffy-headedness and the chills. No fun.
What’s more, [...]

“Inspiration comes mythic-magical, but an annoying thing happens in the transmission from inspiration to worldly draft: Things come out a little fuzzy. Introductions are clunky, transitions are awkward, dialogue sounds forced, and sensory details are wholly lacking. A writer’s privilege is that she can fix it later. And then fix it again. There’s magic in [...]

In September, my wife and I went to Italy for two weeks. We stayed in Florence, Venice and Rome. It was an amazing trip. The food, the wine, the sights, the sounds. Two weeks, just me and my wonderful wife. Words just don’t do it much justice.
Pictures don’t either, but the two can come close [...]

Fellow Compassion employee Chris brought this to my attention.
Compassion has been nominated for the MySpace Impact Awards, along with Kiva and Mercy Corps. Far be it from me to tell you what to do, but you should go to MySpace and vote for Compassion. Once per day until the 24th of January, 1930’s Chicago Democrat-style1. [...]

I love opening lines. They are the literary equivalent of a first kiss. A good one fills you with hope beyond hope of what’s to come. A bad one causes you to spend the next 24 hours rationalizing any good reason to continue.
Great opening lines draw you in. They make you want more than [...]

From time to time, I plan to post some of the poetry, short stories and journal entries I’ve written over the years and that I feel are worth sharing. This is the second such entry. For the first, click here.
Today, I want to share a poem I first wrote about ten years ago. It’s been [...]

I think that the greatest travesty leveled upon the children of earth is the teaching of the following:
Sticks and stones may break my bones,
but words will never hurt me.
The second greatest travesty is the teaching of this little ditty, which is often used as a response to the first:
I’m rubber and you’re glue,
and whatever you [...]

From time to time, I plan to post some of the poetry, short stories and journal entries I’ve written over the years and that I feel are worth sharing. This is the first such entry.
Today, I want to share a poem I wrote in my journal one morning about two weeks ago. It’s been though [...]

Ever noticed how adversity always comes along when you’ve headed down the path of doing something great? Or something you’re supposed to do? Or something you’ve always wanted to do? Notice how adversity comes even when you’re just trying to do the “right thing?”
In November, not three days after I began NaNoWriMo, my right eye [...]