“I die a thousand deaths because I do not die.” From this opening epigraph from St. John of the Cross, Karen Ullo’s horror novel Jennifer the Damned sets the perfect tone for its intelligent, spiritually rich, and yet fast-paced story of a teen vampire coming to terms with two difficult realities: one, that she doesn’t have a soul (and … Read more
Rekindling a sense of wonder … that’s the key to getting back your creativity and breaking writer’s block. You can’t force wonder, though — especially not while you’re living on coffee and anxiety and listening too much to the Inner Critic. You have to step back and let yourself play. But how? Let me introduce you to someone … Read more
I swear there’s an Ent seeding in my imagination. These days all I can think about is trees. I photograph trees, poem trees, and contemplate trees. Basically, I can go outside and stare at trees for an uncannily long time. Not surprisingly, then, trees ended up starring in my fifth 100 Themes poem, which had a theme … Read more
A month ago I dared you all to “jump off the deep end” with me and take up a 100 Themes Writing Challenge. I may not have said much about it since, but trust me … I haven’t forgotten. In fact, I’ve decided to start sharing my progress with you. Each time I check off one … Read more
All right, folks, it’s time to jump on the bandwagon and give you my top reading recommendations for Halloween. Except I’m not going to recommend books. No, I suspect your reading list is long enough already. Instead, I’ve gathered up my favorite stories, poems, songs, and poem-songs, which you can enjoy in 15 minutes or less. … Read more