For obscure reasons, since seventh grade, I’ve given every wheelchair I’ve used the same name: Fred. Recently, I acquired a new Fred. It’s lightweight, handles beautifully, and was a bargain besides. As happy as I am to have it, though, the changing of the guard from one Fred to another is always a bittersweet transition. All Freds must retire eventually, and my previous one had a good run of eight or nine years. A while back, the vinyl on his armrests started to crack and peel, so I gave them a makeover with leopard-print duct tape—an embellishment that garnered compliments... Continue reading

It's a time of change around here. I find myself unemployed this summer, which presents some challenges for sure, but also gives me time to focus on writing and submitting. This week I'm very pleased to have a piece of flash fiction in Atticus Review's music issue. This story, “Songs About Girls With Wheels,” is one of several short pieces I’ve been working on that feature protagonists in wheelchairs. Although I was born with a physical disability and have been writing most of my life, I always resisted writing about characters with disabilities because 1) living with a disability is... Continue reading

Since I'm trying to focus on shorter pieces right now, I’ve spent some time this week writing a bit of short fiction and submitting work to online lit mags for the first time in a while. This button can make people sweat. For a lot of writers I know, the submission process is a constant source of anxiety and stress. Fortunately, it doesn’t particularly freak me out. I mean, if no one accepts anything I’ve written, ever again, then sure, that would be depressing. On the other hand…so what? My relationships, my livelihood, my health…none of that depends on the... Continue reading

"Where the hell have you been??" you might be asking, with your brows furrowed and your arms crossed over your chest. Okay, legit question. For quite a while now, my main writing project has been this novel in progress. And my thinking for the past year or so has been: if I’m ever going to finish the thing, my writing time needs to be focused pretty much exclusively on that. So, no blogging. But meanwhile, here’s the problem: I miss the feeling of finishing something. That’s what I find most frustrating about long-term projects—trudging along interminably, never feeling the endorphin... Continue reading

It’s been just over a month since I returned from my four-week residency at the Vermont Studio Center. After some initial post-residency blues, now my thoughts of VSC are less about the sadness of leaving and more about gladness and gratitude for the time I spent there. I arrived at VSC eager to have my own space and time away from job and home responsibilities; to focus completely on finishing a first draft of my novel; to meet other writers and artists, and make friends with a few of them. Little did I know how low I was aiming! Before... Continue reading

The excellent Amanda Miska tagged me for the My Writing Process blog tour, so here are my answers! What am I working on? My main writing project right now is a novel I started in 2012. I'm hoping to complete the first draft of it during my upcoming residency at the Vermont Studio Center. It's about a 20-something woman who lives in a dead-end town and got married too young for less-than-great reasons. She has few opportunities and doesn't necessarily make the best use of the ones she does have. It's not as bleak as it sounds, althought some of... Continue reading

I've been spending some time this week going through old writing files, looking for any long-hibernating pieces that I might want to finish while I have some uninterrupted time in Vermont next month. Meh...didn't find much worth pursuing. I realized I'm much more interested in finishing the first draft of what I started during Camp NaNoWriMo 2012, and working on another story or two that are bubbling in my brain. In a lot of those older pieces, I was playing it very safe. My main characters tended to be people who were a lot like me--women around my age who'd... Continue reading

Back in October, I took a workshop through the Georgia Writers Association called "Funding Streams for Writers." While I did get some helpful tips about freelance work, promotion, etc., I think the most valuable piece of advice I gleaned from that day was when the facilitator said, "The number one thing you should be doing is making sure you are known first and foremost as a writer." That struck me, hard. I wrote it down. Then I circled it. Then I drew a star next to it. Because I knew this was advice I needed to hear, see, read, and... Continue reading

This week my indiegogo campaign to support my VSC writing residency came to a close. And how did I do? Let's take a look.... Awesome, huh? I am thrilled, and very grateful to everyone who contributed. It really means a lot to me. I've booked my flight, and wow, it's getting close--I leave in 31 days!!! Continue reading

The Honey Cowl pattern has been a huge hit in the knitting world for quite a while now. As of this writing, there are nearly 15,000 (!) Honey Cowl projects catalogued on Ravelry. I've made the pattern myself once before, as a shop sample at work. Finally, craving a mindless, pretty, stash-busting sort of project, I decided to make one of my very own. The yarn you've seen before, in this post. And here's the finished product. I prefer to wear it doubled, as a fabulous neck-warming thingy, instead of as one long loop. The colors are wonky in the... Continue reading

Yep, the south has once again come to a complete stop because of a little weather. I'm not scoffing--yesterday consisted of constant freezing rain, and that's nothing to mess with. Everything non-essential was closed. We were home, and we were safe. At some point, I went out onto the porch to get some fresh (cold) air and it was so weirdly quiet outside. Nothing but the sound of ice falling from the sky and hitting the ice that was already on the ground. As trees and power lines became more and more coated, we waited to see if we'd keep... Continue reading

First, heartfelt thanks to everyone who reached out to me here on the blog and elsewhere to offer condolences about Little. They are very much appreciated. It's a sad time for us, but it helps to have so many kind wishes coming our way. Speaking of kindness, take a look at this: That's right--with more than two weeks to go, I'm already at 92% of my goal! A huge THANKS goes out to everyone who is contributing toward making this dream come true for me. As I close in on the number that will pay for my residency and get... Continue reading

Our beloved Little crossed the Rainbow Bridge this morning. It was very peaceful. We found a very kind vet who would come to the house and help Little slip away at home. I'm so grateful for this, because taking her to the office for one last traumatic car ride would have upset her so much. We didn't want her to be frightened in her last moments. Since we got the bad news in November, we've had one rule when it comes to Little: Little can do whatever she wants. We spoiled her, and couldn't bear to scold her, so she... Continue reading

So, I'm getting a pretty good rhythm going here in the new year. My work weeks are a mix of paid work at home, paid work at the shop, and unpaid (but important!) writing-related activities. "Writing-related activity" can mean any number of things. It could be writing a blog post. Or working on some fiction. It might be studying a writing-related book (right now I have Joan Sibley's The Art of Time In Fiction right here next to the computer with me). Some days it's mostly corresponding with writing friends and/or working on expanding my circle of same. But it's... Continue reading

For Christmas, Anthony gave me a mysterious large box. Unwrapping it, I found layer after layer of tissue paper and decoy items, all labeled "This is not Stacy's gift." Deep inside the box was an envelope proclaiming itself to contain my real gift--tickets to see the amazing Jason Isbell. I can't even list all the things I loved about this present. It was a total surprise, and clever, and not a piece of stuff that would just take up space. And while Jason Isbell had already passed through Atlanta when I couldn't go, these tickets were for the show in... Continue reading

I've never been to Texas, but it's sure been in my face so far this year. On New Year's Day, over my first cup of coffee of 2014, I started reading The Son by Philipp Meyer (who wrote American Rust, one of my favorite novels of recent years). Just finished it today, and can't quite decide how much I liked it. On one hand, it's an epic western full of long, cinematic sequences about various tribes of people slaughtering each other. I was by turns grossed out and zoned out from boredom. BUT. Occasionally--frequently--I'd come across a sentence or passage... Continue reading

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Mary Mosso. She's a friend of a friend (and my friend now, too) who's currently on a 14-month walk across America. Yes, that's right--she's walking from Massachusetts to California and back. Why is she doing this? Because she can. It's been her dream, and she's been planning it for two years, and now she's doing it. Mary at our house on New Year's Day Mary is making her cross-country trek with just a few belongings in a push cart. She stays with friends, or friends of friends, or fellow travelers... Continue reading

As I've shared the news about my upcoming VSC residency with friends and family, the most common reactions I've gotten are: 1. "YAY!!!" or similar. Sincere congratulations, excitement, hugs, toast-clinking of glasses. 2. "I'm jealous!" But not in a mean or hateful way. A wistful way. And I totally understand it. Honestly, if I weren't me, I'd be jealous of me about this, too! 3a. "Let me know if I can help." 3b. "Have you thought about setting up a crowdfunding site?" Well, for all you 3a-ers and 3b-ers out there, here you go. I would feel weird about asking... Continue reading

From the looks of my news feed, a lot of you are dealing with a buttload (I believe that's the scientific meteorological term) of snow right now. Nothing like that here, but it's a hibernating kind of day anyway. It's cold and blustery outside, but I'm inside writing, and Anthony's in the other room drawing. So, pretty much excellent. Oh, HAPPY NEW YEAR, by the way! My holidays were great and I hope yours were, too. I'm lucky enough to be related to people I actually love spending time with, and to have many wonderful friends to help me welcome... Continue reading

Every day I keep thinking TODAY I WILL PICK A TOPIC AND BLOG ABOUT IT, but then things come up and blogging gets shoved to the bottom of the to-do list. Work is busy, life is busy, and I am easily distracted. Anyway. Any of these could be their own post, but that's not gonna happen. So briefly, here are a few things that irritate me: The onslaught of spam coming to this blog, wanting me to buy luxury shoes or get on the waiting list for a designer handbag. DO NOT WANT. DO NOT CARE. How little time I... Continue reading

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Americans! I'm happy to have many things to be thankful for. Among these are good books and the ability to connect with other book lovers via blogs. On that note... ...this is (obviously) the final week of Nonfiction November. I've really enjoyed getting to know some new blogs and bloggers through this event, not to mention having the chance to write about books I love and to learn about ones I now look forward to reading. Our topic this week was: New to My TBR: What nonfiction have you added to your toppling TBR pile... Continue reading

So, yesterday this happened. No big deal. I'm kidding. IT'S TOTALLY A BIG DEAL! Paying this deposit means that, apparently, this writing residency is really, truly, actually happening. I have to be honest: as excited as I was about getting admitted to this residency, it took me a few weeks to get around to officially accepting VSC's offer. I had some moments of doubt--is going there the right thing to do? Not that I think I don't deserve it, exactly. They read my sample, and they thought I was good enough, so that means I must be worthy of this.... Continue reading

Welcome to another installment of Nonfiction November! Our topic for this week is... Book Pairing: Match a fiction book with a nonfiction book that you would recommend. Right now I'm re-reading one of my all-time favorite novels, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon. I could write a whole post about all the ways I love this book (maybe I will do that sometime). To me, it's a contender for the elusive, unofficial title of Great American Novel (hmmm...yes, okay, definitely need to do a whole post about that). This book is epic in scope, but to... Continue reading

For a while, several years ago, my husband got me hooked on watching Doctor Who with him. I've mostly lost interest since then, but there was a period when I was sort of into it. (That period may or may not have coincided mainly with the years when cutie patootie David Tennant was playing The Doctor. But I digress!) Anyway. There was this episode with Rose Tyler and The Doctor on a beach in Norway or something, having a dramatic goodbye. He might have been dying, maybe? (Real fans of the show are no doubt cringing at this description. Apologies... Continue reading