Just another writer
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Writerly resolutions: August status
First draft of the new story is done and I’m into the rewrite. I’m thinking that this might be the first story of a collection about the main character. I’ve committed to a workshop date in September to keep me from dawdling with this story. Still paused on the novel. I’ve been doing a lot…
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If I were asked for my ten books of the 2000s for the New York Times list
Not that they asked, but if they had, I went through my reading log and did the painful winnowing down of books I’ve read published in 2000 or later down to ten “best” books (the last seven to get cut really hurt) to the following (in order by publication date): Housekeeping: A Novel by Marilynne Robinson…
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Writerly resolutions: July status
Got a new story workshopped with some good feedback on it and a thousand words of another story written. A workshopped story went into submissions. Paused a bit on the novel querying realizing that it needs some revision to be better. I’m making sure that the first 50 pages at least are as perfect as…
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Mass in small-town Pennsylvania
I’m always a little trepidatious about attending Mass when I get outside of my liberal Chicago suburb. I opted against going while in the Wisconsin Dells when, checking for Mass times on the local parish’s website, I came across a posting from the pastor arguing that Pope Francis wasn’t really Catholic. But I also don’t…
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Writerly resolutions: June status
My big thing this month, by far would be writer camp. I spent the last few days of the month in central Pennsylvania, mostly writing, although some reading, some talking with other writerly folks. A rather deep questioning about the novel, and whether I even have the right to write it (I think I do,…
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Writerly resolutions: a late May status
Somehow I managed to miss that I never did the May status post. Querying continues with disappointing results. I’ve finished a first draft of a new story. Still revising poems (and tossing a few into the trash heap). My submittable is down to seven entries.
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Thoughts on the slow-moving Church
Back in the 90s, my response to people saying that we needed to have married priests and women priests in the Catholic Church to respond to the priest shortage was to say that I didn’t think that was what the Holy Spirit was calling the Church to do (which is not to say that these…
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“A story with a happy ending”: The story behind the story
My newest publication, an excerpt from the novel I’m querying, was published in Nebo under the title, “A story with a happy ending.” This excerpt comes from late in the book as I start wrapping up characters’ stories and focuses on Adam Cushman, an American Jewish soldier after his return to the U.S. from his army…
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Writerly resolutions: April status
The querying continues with still more rejections. I’ve ended up revisiting the query letter and finding it wanting I’ve rewritten it for the May round of queries. Hopefully this will turn things around. I’ve managed to get my groove back with new writing. I had abandoned the word-count goal I’d used previously and it turns…