I haven’t been writing. Even as I try to type these words I’m fighting to keep my eyelids from closing. It’s Monday morning and I’m up at the time I set my alarm so it’s just me for a moment, just me and the Christmas tree and the clinking of radiant heat. I’ve already heard … More Seasons of Unproductivity
The Family Bible Devotional: Stories from the Bible to Help Kids and Parents Engage and Love Scripture officially releases August 1, but it’s available now on Amazon, and I’m so excited for it to be out in the world. This was a writing project unlike any I’ve worked on before. Here’s how: 1. It isn’t … More One Week until Official Release of The Family Bible Devotional!
I notice it more and more as I get older, how important making stuff is to me. – Paula Scher, #Abstract I’ve been watching the Netflix series Abstract on and off, generally when no one else is around. Every time I watch an episode I remember again how much I love to create, how much … More Creation
In the days preceding my attendance at the Indiana Faith and Writing Conference, I found myself needing to release a dozen or so expectations and obligations in order to make room. If you’ve been hanging around here long enough you know that I am a classic over-committer. What else can I say yes to? I … More Making Room
It’s a big week for me as I head up north to the Festival of Faith and Writing. I love this conference, and at this year’s event, besides hanging out with a boatload of truly excellent people, I get to meet my agent face-to-face. I’m also going to be reading at One Poet, One Poem, and … More This Week in Books and Words and Legos
Over a decade ago, I started scratching down the clippings of diseased rose stems and transplanted Black Eyed Susans alongside the ache and emptiness of miscarriage. The Word doc morphed from computer to computer as we moved from Ellet to South Akron to Ashland to Copley. The story kept changing and growing, from one miscarriage … More The Body Is Not a Coffin
My latest blog post for Off the Page on the roots of racism and what we ought to do about “The Others” was shared on Wednesday. It was difficult to write this article because the temptation for me and I suspect other Christian writers is to craft the I-was-lost-but-now-I’m-found message, I was bad but now I’m … More The Middle Ground
Summer is coming to a close, which means the children go back to school, Henry starts preschool three days a week, and football season begins. Now that we’re done with this thing, onto the next thing. The clouds are racing and changing across the sky, moving the weather and the seasons along, and now it’s … More The Next Thing and the Next Thing
A couple of weeks ago was the River Teeth Nonfiction Conference, and leading up to that were lots of long nights getting ready. I’ve been feeling frustrated with my ability to make time for writing, here or anywhere else, but now that the conference is over and I’ve given my brain a little break from … More The Desire to Be Desired
I finished listening to two books in the last couple of days, The Faraway Nearby by Rebecca Solnit and Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, both of which I highly recommend. I’m really into figuring out structure of books lately and thinking about the ways that authors assemble their thoughts, especially in nonfiction, and the image … More April in Books and Birds
