Oh, dear. I’ve neglected this website for a long time. I’m going to use 2020’s crazy as an excuse. But I’ve been busy writing, I promise.
First, here is my yearly reminder to you that I write things you can buy and have for your very own. Like Sparks, the book about the monster under Rosie’s barn that disrupts her love life. Order Now!
I was busy writing even during a couple months of deer-in-the-headlights panic about the pandemic. I wrote nearly every day in a journal, which helped me keep my sanity, I think.
Then in April, I began writing a funny play called Lemon Bars about a pair of women trapped on a fictional cruise ship in the early days of the coronavirus. Not only was writing about the virus this way cathartic, but humor is my way of understanding difficult subjects. Lemon Bars had a table read through PDX Playwrights on August 4, 2020, which was a great experience.
After I was done with Lemon Bars, I adapted Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing for the Apple Box Children’s Theater (ABCT). It was soul-cleansing to immerse myself in that funny play, and re-watch Kenneth Branagh’s filmed version a dozen times.
To cope, I wrote a lot during September when the fires in Oregon burned my father’s house to the ground. That has resulted in an essay I’ll read on January 7, 2021, at 7 PM online. You can watch it here:. I’ll also post the permalink here when that is available.
During November, I volunteered to lead a cohort for Willamette Writers Month of Mastery, which was basically Nanowrimo. My cohort was called “The Shitty First Draft” after Lamott, and most of us reached our goals. I was able to use that month to finish the second draft of my Lilith book that I really, really like.
On top of all of that, I also managed to edit issue No. 9 of the Timberline Review, solicit submissions for the 2021 issue of the Timberline Review, and edit the undergraduate research journal PURE Insights.
I’m glad you are here, dear reader. My 2021 be…better.