This Is Not a Sign
It’s the end of a 14 hour day and I stare at the two things left on my calendar: blog and novel. For a moment, my throat catches. I’ve put writing last, well past my hour of fatigue, [...]
The Three P’s
It’s been a whirlwind 10 days. First, driving 900 miles north for the summer at Interlochen. Second, directing the Writer’s Retreat (joyful, fulfilling, and…busy). Third, [...]
Interlochen Writer’s Retreat: Lessons Learned
Being “artistic director” of a retreat sure is fun. The way I see it, if I do my job right all winter and spring, by the time June rolls around I can spend most of the retreat running [...]
Interlochen Writer’s Retreat
I’m dispatching this week as Artistic Director for the annual Interlochen College of Creative Arts Writer’s Retreat. It’s 5 days on a beautiful campus between two lakes with 4 [...]
Summer Reading
When started to pack for 8 weeks in Interlochen, Michigan and its surrounding cities, the first thing I reached for was my books. I’m taking far more than I can finish in two months, but [...]
And, We’re Off!
This weekend I got my first real taste of “book tour living.” The whirlwind kicked off with a fundraiser for Carolina Mountains Literary Festival in Burnsville. This event included [...]
Interview with Helen Benedict
When I was writing Flashes of War, I didn’t read any fiction about Iraq and Afghanistan. But I immersed myself fully in many skillfully researched nonfiction books about war, the military, [...]
Book Tour: Spilling My Guts
It’s dawning on me how difficult this is going to be. With two hometown readings complete and one to go, I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that I fear “it’s all [...]
