Category Archives: Writing

Word Raccoon is irritated. She is sick. She does not want to be sick, because weren’t we just sick a few months ago? Sigh. Her throat wants a pot of tea and a box of popsicles simultaneously.  Yesterday, she spent most of the day reading Listen for the Lie, a fast, fun read about aContinue reading “(Mostly) Concrete Musings”

Dear Reader, I knew Word Raccoon was going to try to sleep in, even though she was well aware that we had a hair appointment this morning. Even though, furthermore, she knew I wanted to finish reading my book. (I did this afternoon…whoa! No spoilers, but…whoa!) Most people have a mental list of what theyContinue reading “A Word Raccoon’s Guide to Visiting the Hair Salon”

Dear Reader, Just barely out of arm’s reach at the table is an Ian McEwan novel. I had to push it away or I will devour it for breakfast. Yesterday, when I went to the library to pick up another book that I was mildly pleased to find they had on their shelves, allowing meContinue reading “What We Can Know”

Word Raccoon stayed up too late, and then when she woke, she squawked to learn we are out of Coke Zero. This required me to make coffee. Too early. (Or tea, but let’s be honest, tea does not give quite the same boost.) I have promised the raccoon that we will have Coke Zero ifContinue reading “I’d Like to Teach the World to “Poem””

I’m guest lecturing in a friend’s creative writing class tonight, and the stories she has assigned are two I’m very familiar with: “The Lottery” and “The Necklace.” In preparation, I am reviewing them this morning. What strikes me most, looking at them side by side, is how both hinge on transformation. In “The Lottery,” itContinue reading “Transformation in Two Classic Short Stories or, Word Raccoon is Not Awake Enough to Title Things on a Monday”

I’m using any excuse to sit on the porch this Saturday afternoon, even though it’s raining. There’s no lightning, and it’s enclosed, so I’m good. Word Raccoon is always raving about the light out here. She’s not wrong. We could be reading.We could be writing.We might. But also, we are listening to YouTube videos whileContinue reading “Porch Notes, Light Rain Edition”

This morning I received a rejection from a “big name” publication. To be expected.  First of all, the email landed in my spam, which I am now afraid not to check regularly since I’ve had acceptances land there, too. What was really unexpected, though, was that it arrived with eleven other email addresses attached, allContinue reading “Reply All: A Support Group”

I somehow missed yesterday’s poem and prompt email from the writing cohort. I checked for it a few times and when I didn’t see it, I freewheeled into poetry myself. I wrote down some lines that came to me. I may have drafted another poem too, though at the time I wasn’t entirely sure whatContinue reading “Three Poems and Coke Zero Before Breakfast “

Did you ever feel like life handed you an opportunity and then said, “Just kidding”? I half have a chance at taking a trip that would be ideal for me. A bucket list trip, actually. But then life calls and says, “Hey, but like… is this the time? And the cost…” I’m negotiating. What’s theContinue reading “Negotiating with a Raccoon”

My alma mater has a group of us who are banding together for April to achieve a writing goal during National Poetry Month, yay! I just read the first email complete with a poem and writing prompts. As expected, a prompt led Word Raccoon WAY off topic, but the poems aren’t necessarily to be shared,Continue reading “Residue “