"I had a teacher named Colonel John Robert Doyle.... He would read my crummy poetry like it was written by Yeats.... He made the whole thing worthwhile for me," says bestselling author Pat Conroy, remembering his experience at the Citadel.

In support of National Teacher Day and Teacher Appreciation Week, I'm excited to share this moving video, which features Michael Chabon,…

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month of: april

april.5: i went to an open mic called Artichoke Haircut and i

…chickened out of reading at it after i had eggs (plastic Easter ones) thrown at me before i got up to read; i took it as a bad oman

april.12:  i saw the hunger games and i

….wanted to move to alaska so i could have the excuse of wearing a visor and changing the…

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My mother used to have a saying, “Don’t count it a day lost when you learn something new”  and she especially liked, “learn a new word.”  She was big on vocabulary.

I’ve modified this treasured maternal maxim to include any number of lesser, albeit, practical goals to further edify my life. For example, “don’t count it a day lost when you can talk a cop out of a speeding ticket” or “don’t count it a day lost when you can dodge every call from a bill collector.” And the most…

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Religion is a recurring theme in my life.  Just the other day I was in Starbucks, anxiously awaiting my caramel frappaccino, when a very attractive black man in a suit came up to me and said, “Do you practice?”  I wasn’t sure what he was referring to, and at first I thought he was asking…

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Most people convicted of murder are understood to have stolen their victim’s life. To have violently ripped it away against the person’s will. Not so Kenneth Minor, a 38-year-old man who was sentenced to 20 years to life this week for killing 52-year-old Jeffrey Locker. Minor’s defense? Locker begged Minor to “do a Kevorkian” on him.

According to…

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To follow up on my last post made in honor of International Women's History Day and Women's Appreciation Month, I'm sharing another story from a celebrated author inspired by other celebrated authors. I had the opportunity to ask the quick, energetic, prolific and super-creative Cynthia Eden about the women who inspire her in her own writing. Here's what she said:

 

"When I think of famous women who have inspired me, I immediately picture Clara Barton. In my mind, I can see her…

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     Designing and creating a flag for our local public library's children's room was a joyful challenge. It took time and energy, and several trips to our nearby JoAnn's craft store. The result of the collaboration between my design and fabric cutting with the skills of a  seamstress friend who works magic with her sewing machine was very gratifying...and charming. Its images are here, both before and after its maiden "sail." It…

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I remember seeing things the way my four year old, Nicholas, does. But I don't remember when those same things, those simple things that once fascinated me, became the same things that my eyes would pass over every day without much more than a simple glance followed by an oh that's nice here and there. When Nicholas sees an orange and pink sky he gasps in amazement at the awesome sherbert ice cream sky.



Our kids are smart enough to… Continue

Dear rude Sbarro’s pizza boy,



How special you must feel to have the honor of working at a pizza chain in the food court. How honored you must be to stand behind the grease-spattered counter in your red worker bee shirt that is meant to hide the marinara stains that threaten to alter your state of coolness. Yes, you are privileged dough boy, standing there with your smirk proudly displayed on your flour-dusted face.



As you watch the homeless woman pass by deeply involved in… Continue

Please listen to the following audio before you read and you will have a much better understanding of my sick humor…I think.



07 Banishing Disease.m4a



Mr. Chopra,



I wanted to thank you for all you have done for me. Well, for me and my body I guess I should… Continue

Hello to my sisters in words! I'm so excited to be apart of the She Writes community. I wish a community like this existed 20 years ago when I started my first novel. After 14 unpublished books (some deservedly so!) I finally have a book published. It's a memoir called THIS IS NOT THE STORY YOU THINK IT IS: A SEASON OF UNLIKELY HAPPINESS. It's about putting into practical application the philosophy of non-suffering, which I'd committed to after so many years of allowing myself to be defined by… Continue

Hear Kerry Cohen (writing as Michelle Perrot) read from this piece and talk about the aftermath tonight, tomorrow and Tuesday in Eugene, Portland and Seattle. I'll post my Q&A with her ASAP because it's fascinating and I'm SO proud to have published this original, not-seen-anywhere-else piece in Best Sex Writing 2010. I hope we get a big showing from poly people because I think… Continue

Vulnerability



I know I’m being truly vulnerable

When my heart begins to cry



And my voice begins to cry

a river of swollen words



And my breath is fragile as a leaf in autumn

floating on a layer of wind



and not falling

but traveling through the ethers



and touching the spirits

with the cry of vulnerability



that says

my heart is open



and I am willing

to risk hurt



in the… Continue