Having my first book published has marked a real threshold in my creative writing life. Not only is it a thrilling accomplishment in itself, but it’s also opened up a lot more opportunities for me to teach and mentor. (In fact, I’m now officially a mentor in The Writer’s Loft low-residency program at Middle Tennessee [...]
Author Archive
The Fight to Stop Mountaintop Removal: I Risk Getting Political
I keep waiting to be “unfriended.” To logon to Facebook and see an irate comment posted on my wall; to notice I’ve lost a few followers on Twitter; to watch at the grocery store as another mom from my son’s school whips through produce with barely a nod in my direction. The message these former [...]
The Grace of Gradual Change
I think we all know that any REAL risk will push our comfort zones, but I’ve realized in the past few weeks that some zones are more uncomfortable than others. Consider my January daily audacious goal to write or edit a poem five days a week. I was excited about it, many of you were kind [...]
The Power of Admitting Where You’re From
I am not yet ready to call myself a teacher of poetry, but in the past year I have been a poetry workshop leader on a few occasions. One evening last month I arrived at Watkins College, a Nashville fine arts and design school, prepared to be the substitute teacher for my friend Gloria Ballard’s writing [...]
The Power of Admitting Your Dreams
Less than six weeks ago, a good friend and I had a conversation about one of her deepest aspirations. She’s been on the staff at her church for many years, but she confessed to me for the first time that she’s listening for a call from God to be an ordained minister. I understood this [...]
