I wrote the first real draft of my memoir during NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) a few years ago. But it feels like I've been working on it here and there for nearly thirty years. This draft feels wrong. Even though I like a lot of the stuff I included, it needs a lot of… Continue reading Thriving (or not) as a sewer creature
Tag: memoir
The Timeworn House
I've always loved writing and have always wanted to "be a writer," whatever that means. I guess I always thought that to call myself a writer, I had to earn money for it. When I was a kid, in high school, college and years after, I never earned a cent for my writing, even though… Continue reading The Timeworn House
Now
Working on my memoir doesn't always mean I'm writing. That may sound strange for a lot of people, but writers, and especially memoir writers, will understand. When I'm not deep thinking, reading old journals and writings, or taking long walks to calm my anxiety, I do write. And that writing happens when I least expect… Continue reading Now
Sweet to the soul and health to the bones
I'm so tired of thinking backwards. I sit here and wonder when or if I can just live in the moment. The present. Not look back to what life was or could've been. Not hate myself for all my regrets and mistakes. My sins. Not worry about the future, wondering who I will be or… Continue reading Sweet to the soul and health to the bones
Poetry, death and my brother
Since I was young, I was attracted to poetry and stories about death. Not horror. Not violence. Just death. I started writing about death and I still do. I write about the idea of death, what it means and what it doesn't. The finality surrounding it but also the beginning. The realistic nature of it… Continue reading Poetry, death and my brother
Staring at the wall
He lost his brother. A quiet man to begin with, he stopped speaking. He sat on his bed and stared at the wall. His brother was gone. This grieving, depressed man was my grandfather. Grandpap Kirsch. I was fourteen when he passed and I didn't know him that well. But after he died, when our… Continue reading Staring at the wall
Why Memoir
I've been writing what feels like my entire life. I remember loving books as a kid and creating my own and giving them to my mom as gifts. I wrote poetry (and still do) and short stories. There were many attempts at novels, but at my young age, those didn't get far. In middle and… Continue reading Why Memoir
Mirrors Strike Back
Sometimes you discover a writer who you simply click with. You become engrossed in whatever they write, buy whatever they publish, and their words stay with you long after you've read them. That's the kind of writer Rebekah Mallory is. Having first found her online through her blog, I knew her honest, edgy,… Continue reading Mirrors Strike Back
Writing Poetry with Maria
I was looking through old notebooks and journals, and I came across an old black spiral notebook filled with old writing stuff. There were ideas for children's stories (for a class I was taking), random journal entries and the best thing ever--poems I wrote with my old coworker Maria. 🙂 Why would I… Continue reading Writing Poetry with Maria
Remembering a beautiful soul
I started writing this article months ago. But the only part I didn't delete was the short piece I wrote during NaNoWriMo last year. I wrote a series of non-fiction/memoir pieces covering a wide range of memories and events from my life. I always come back to the goodbye essays, the ones where I remember… Continue reading Remembering a beautiful soul
The Second Chance Writer 