Deep Sky Anchor

I’ve started rereading Jane Austen’s novels, and I just want to point out: she uses exclamation points & all caps ALL over the place!

Exclamation points & all caps may be horribly out of fashion in fiction these days, but Austen is a master. Editors can get over themselves. Continue reading “Italics and Exclamation Points”

I have withdrawn my accepted story from The Timberline Review (operated by Willamette Writers) due to their contract’s overreaching liability clause, lack of a sunset clause, and their unwillingness to negotiate.

I cannot recommend submitting to them.

God it feels good to no longer have a vested interest in a market that’s been treating me badly for a month and a half.

This is my fourth original sale (out of 172) to fall through; the other three were due to markets themselves going under. Continue reading “Fighting for Good Contracts”

The six-year-old introducing two of their stuffed animals to each other:‬

‪“This is a good person. Nice to meet you! This is a good person. Nice to meet you!”‬

‪Then they slammed the plushies into each other and had them fight.‬

What it is like when my spouse and I run routine emails past each other to check they’re okay:

—debate regarding relative merits of long sentences & short ones
—Finnegan’s Wake compared to a banana taped to a wall
—double slit experiment involving bananas
—what were we doing?

What it is like when my spouse and I run routine emails past each other to check they’re okay:

—debate regarding relative merits of long sentences & short ones
—Finnegan’s Wake compared to a banana taped to a wall
—double slit experiment involving bananas
—what were we doing? Continue reading “Checkin’ Emails”

“Now I am at rest, understanding that in books, and ages, and life the ending can never truly be written.”
—Riven (1997)

Myst and Riven are profoundly beautiful works of art.

I started writing a story seventeen years ago and finally finished it last summer. It’s one of my most inexplicable pieces.‬ Continue reading “Myst, Riven, and and the Walrus”

Darmok and Jalad… up way past their bedtimes.‬

‪Shaka… when they finally fell asleep.‬

A couple weeks ago, I heard the memory of a line echo in my head, but I couldn’t place it. I thought maybe it was from Grey’s Anatomy… or a Jane Austen movie…‬

‪Now I think it’s from Remember WENN. But I can’t check. I can’t share it with my kids. I can’t relive it.‬ Continue reading “Remember WENN and Grief”

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist is an exceptional work of art. It would be a crime against everything that is beautiful and meaningful if it doesn’t get renewed, and Jane Levy deserves awards.‬

[insert an acquaintance suggesting they don’t want it renewed, because it’s perfect as-is] Continue reading “Zoey’s Causing Extraordinary Happiness”