I love the idea of National Novel Writing Month. Love the idea of clear goals and a deep commitment to finishing a project and working every day. The organization it’s attached to is so encouraging and has awesome resources – the whole concept of it makes me feel a sort of sunbeams and chocolate and…
Wow! I can’t believe it’s been July since I posted last – the one downside to full time job, plus grad school, plus life is that it doesn’t leave a lot of time for extras like the blog. I’d like to promise to do better, but I hate breaking promises. This last week I’ve been…
So I’ve just started on my second MFA class – Advanced Studies in Literature. I was able to finish my first class with an A and it’s nice to know that a decade out of my last degree I can still pull this thing off. My favorite thing about that first intro class was that…
So joining an MFA program has, no surprise, sucked up a lot of my time in the last couple of months, but I think I’m going to try to start sharing out some of what I’m doing in my classes to the blog. This wasn’t technically an assignment, but we’re talking a lot about workshopping…
I was accepted into the MFA in Creative Writing program at Southern New Hampshire University – my classes start April 17th! I very excited about this program for several reasons: The only hard part now is waiting until April 17th! MFAWriting
I recently completed my application to an online MFA program in Creative Writing. I’m a history professor with a PhD in my other life, so it’s meant explaining to others, as well as myself why I’d pursue another graduate degree in a different field. I also know that a person can become a successful writer…
The paperback version of my book Rell is now available. It took some last minute graphic design wrangling with the cover (3mm has never been so frustrating), but it’s now officially out there in the world. There’s still a lot of things I want to keep doing for it in terms of promotion and just…
The paperback formatting was definitely the hardest practical part of the self-publishing process. It gave me a whole new respect for copy editors, book designers, and I can’t even imagine the skill it would have taken to create these things before the computer era. It made me feel grateful to live in an era where…
The proof copy of my paperback arrived today. The entire process may have been worth it just to see it in lovely book form. I don’t know what it is about ink on paper, but I do think it has its own magic. BooksReadingSelf PublishingWriting
I wanted to post something on the blog that will give people a taste of the world and the characters of my novel Rell. So I’ve posted a prequel short story entitled “The Calling”. You can click here to read it, or find it under the short stories/flash fiction tab. Hope you enjoy it! FantasyOriginalWorkShort…
Jenel Alan 