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The Books That Built Me (And Will Never See the Light of Day)
Years ago I read that, on average, it’s the sixth or seventh book that becomes an author’s debut. When I heard that, I said to myself: “That will not be you. You’ll publish by book three.” I even praised myself for being so magnanimous as to wait three whole books. Ah, youth. Today — on…
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Tiny Stories Teaching Big Lessons
For me, tiny stories begin with a stray thought. Something I saw on the news. A fear I have. A memory of someone I loved or love still. A friend’s habit. A person I saw out in the world. A photograph. Anything might trigger a tiny story. They are fiction, though they inevitably start in…
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Fragments We Remember
When I got home from the night shift that morning, there was nothing out of place. Nothing strange. I put my keys on the little dish. They rattled. I made dinner (breakfast), ate it, took a shower, put on a nightgown, pulled the curtains, read until I fall asleep. Dreamed something. When I got home…
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The Dancer and the Shattered Shell
It’s like this when dark comes: you get inside. The rule is simple and absolute. Anna is running late after she finishes her audition. The auditorium doors close behind her and lock. The auditors will be there all night — but dancers can’t stay while they deliberate. It’s 5:42pm on a late winter evening. She’s…
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An Encounter
The boy read an article about a lake with a thousand skeletons somewhere in the Himalayas. He’s never been to the Himalayas, though his father once climbed Everest. He never imagined he would see a skeleton beneath the ice, but here one is, caught in the weeds by the shore of the lake. He stands…
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A Crack Appears
The treadmill stands in my living room, no matter what. So far, it’s moved three times with me. First thing I do when I wake up, first thing I do when I get home, and the last thing I do before going to bed is run. Run, stretch, run, stretch. It’s the only way I…
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Doubt and Community: Weekly Update
It was my intention at the beginning of the year to post “accountability” progress reports every Friday. So far, I have failed. But no longer! Welcome to the first weekly update of 2025. While these posts are mostly for me, I’m hoping that my struggles and successes and attempts might resonate with other creative types.…
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Method Acting
Allison Beeman was cast as Agatha Christie’s septuagenarian mystery-solver Miss Jane Marple, in A Murder is Announced, at the ripe old age of twenty-two. Something about Allison’s wispy blonde hair, pale skin, and fragile bone structure spoke, “Seventy year old,” to the director of the Center for Performing Arts. (It could also have been that…
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Cicadas
The year is 1888 and you have not been in this much pain since being grazed by a Confederate bullet in 1865. That time, you battled through, knowing what was wrong. This time, the ache is a long-standing mystery. You tell the doctor, when he finally arrives, that your shoulder is immobile. You are unable…
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Chalk Outlines
Around one a.m., after the third time I’ve woken from restless dreams, I stare at the ceiling and think “I am done with true crime shows.” Normally, I know that I’ve hit my quota of true crime when I start mentally narrating my day in the True Crime Voice. That morning started like any other,…
