Writers say it takes a village to write a book. Look at any acknowledgement or dedication page for evidence: This breed of introverted, solitude-craving, nose-in-a-novel, socially misfit authors is beholden to community—for inspiration, research help, revision suggestions, editing, publishing, marketing work, babysitting, cheerleading… Each individual’s creative act is invariably intertwined with many lives. Recognizing this keeps us […]
The Writer’s Village Read More »
I taught my first spiritual memoir class when I was twenty-eight, still in graduate school, and two years before my first book was released. Every one of my students was older than me. When I gave them a prompt, invariably someone ended up in tears. I was astonished; this had never happened in my MFA workshops! Nothing in my
Embracing the Writer’s Tears and Surprises Read More »
In a bizarre twist of fate, I’ll be the recipient of a chunk of change thanks to a class action suit. Anthropic is a company that, without permission, used thousands of books, including Swinging on the Garden Gate, to develop its AI product. Presumably you can now tell Anthropic’s tool to write a memoir in
The Surprisingly Sacred Invitation of AI Read More »
About a decade ago I had a dream about my impending death. It blew me open. For weeks afterward, I was saturated by a silence so pervasive it felt like a presence. Once it dissipated, I desperately wanted it back and so plunged head-first into an ancient Christian form of silent meditation. I also began writing
The following list is compiled from readers of my 2024 Year in Books list, which you can read here, and from members of the Eye of the Heart Center for Creative Contemplation’s Writing Community. If you’re looking for fellow readers and writers, I’d love to see you there. Reading means to be ready to catch
Books Recommended by Readers Read More »
Your writing projects are your babies. Sometimes you dream about them before conception; sometimes they emerge in a passionate rush. You raise them with care, patience, frustration, labor, and abiding joy. Like child-rearing, revision is long, arduous, and meaningful. Often it seems the kid will never grow up. Then your baby is grown. The project is complete—more or less. It is
Here’s a peek into THE RELEASE, which comes out this October! Read More »
Perhaps because my first big writing project gave me room to articulate my sexual longings, come out bisexual, and figure out the implications for my Christian faith; perhaps because I’m drawn to spiritual and therefore intimate subjects, my first drafts (and often second and third) I tend to write for no one but me. Of course
Writing in the Cloud of Privacy & Unknowing Read More »
After a year of drafting my first young adult novel, I ran it past my trusty writing group (of twenty-five years!) and was unsurprised at their critique: The plot doesn’t yet spring from the desires of my characters. “What’s at stake for them?” my colleagues asked. “What are their burning passions? What obstacles do they face?
There’s an old Taoist story about a farmer whose horse ran away. His neighbors on hearing this came to him and said, sympathetically, “Such bad luck!” “We’ll see,” the farmer replied. The next day the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. “So wonderful!” the neighbors exclaimed. “We’ll see,” the farmer said. Then
Receive the Blessings of Failure Read More »
Each and every one of us ordinary people has the capacity to create beauty.
Attending the Lotus Read More »