Talk to a friend if you’re feeling depressed, they say. Eat well, get enough sleep. Take a walk in nature. The closest I get to nature these days is in a nearby office park with some nice landscaping. I walk early in the morning, when the parking lot is empty. It’s mercifully quiet—once I get […]
nonfiction
The Thing About Forgiveness
“Everybody has their shit.” -Karen Stefano The thing about forgiveness is, without it, we’d all be screwed. True story. Think about it for a minute, or for or a second, if you can. Think about all those times you desperately needed forgiveness. Or maybe, if you’ve been on the opposite side—the one who has heroically […]
On Reading Challenges
On her Facebook page, author Ania Ahlborn confessed feeling baffled by people who read more than a dozen books a month. (Did you notice the name drop? Yeah, I don’t know her IRL, though.) Her “confusion” stems only partly from the mere fact of time and how does anyone have that much. Mostly, she wonders […]
An Open Letter to Literary Fiction Snobs
Dear Literary Fiction Snobs, How dare you? How fucking dare you? How dare you look down your noses at us humor writers and roll your eyes. How dare you whisper behind our backs — or say to our faces — about how our work is somehow less important than your touch-the-heart agony porn? I’m tired […]
The Thing About the F Word
The thing about the F word is you don’t want to be called it. You don’t want to be called flakey, that is. But the thing is, there are an awful lot of flakey people out there. I’m sure you’re not one of them, and so I’m not talking about you here. Just like human […]
What My Dog Taught Me About Writing
Dogs Make Excellent Writing Partners Writing can be lonely, but friends are distracting. Dogs are companionable, without being conversational. You can type quietly, suddenly talk, then stop mid-sentence without repercussion. You can test a phrase nineteen different ways. Twenty. Hit delete. Start over; your dog’s happy. Skip the Purina Garvey will eat anything but commercial […]
