“I’ve noticed that there is a…conversational feel [in your work], something that says each text was written by Kelsey Timmerman. Perhaps that is voice…What do you think voice means?” My buddy and fellow author/writer Chris Humphries asked this in an email the other day.
“When my editor sent my manuscript to the copyeditor, he sent instructions to “keep the voice.” There were several very specific instructions, but the one I remember the most was to keep the spelling of “fella.” Is that voice?
I’ve always adhered to the advice: “Write like you speak. If a word wouldn’t…
No, not you class of 2011, you’re so sensitive, but screw all of the folks who write about the Great Recession producing the Lost Generation, and how you all are just going to move back home and play videogames and file e-resumes while mooching off of your parents’ 401K.
Do you know what the Great Depression produced? The Greatest Generation, that’s what.
Tough times make us better.
I was reading a piece in the Huffington Post about the Lost Generation and it made me pissed off for you Class of 2011.
“I have a question for you all: where are you wearing?”
It’s a question that I would end up asking a thousand times over the next few years, but this was my first ever Where Am I Wearing? presentation.
I was at Books & Co. in Dayton, Ohio, and they were holding a contest. Who ever knew where the most items of clothing they were wearing were made won.
As everyone turned to check their tags, I gulped nervously on some water and reviewed my notes and then went into the crowd – maybe 15 people – to help check tags.
“Excuse me,” the woman in a black T-shirt said, as she turned and lifted up the back of her shirt. “Could you check…
Either I have super hearing or one can hear a baby’s heartbeat by placing your ear on a pregnant woman’s belly. To be clear, that someone was my wife.
Thump-Thump-Thump
I listened intently to my little boy’s heart. My ear to Annie’s belly like a cowboy with his ear to the ground listening for coming troubles. Then he kicked me in the ear.
One of the reasons I try to avoid writing about religion is because it can often be divisive: If you don’t believe what I do, well then, you are wrong. So at first I was hesitant to agree to an interview at the spiritual book club, but then I read what they were about:
www.spiritualbookclub.com is an on-line global community of kindred spirits who explore spirituality through books, music, discussion, and ways to get involved in doing good things globally…Often in talking about religions, there can be disagreement about this philosophy or that. Spirituality covers a broader turf. Those who attempt to lead spiritual lives get a sense that it’s about trying to be faithful, trying to understand,…
I’ve filled my lungs to the point of embolism and swam to 100’ feet beneath the ocean’s surface. I grabbed sand to prove I made it to the bottom and swam for the surface. Swimming to 100’ is the easy part. Swimming back is the hard and essential part. My legs grew heavy with lack of oxygen. My hand oozing with sand broke the surface first.
That felt like deep water.
I turned the water on and plugged the drain. I left to get diapers, diaper rash crème, pajamas, and my daughter Harper. By the time I returned the bath was half full. If she rolled over on her…
Once upon a time authors shared their work at independent book stores filled with folks who loved books. The big boxes killed the radio star…I mean the independent book stores. Writers were forced to arrange readings at the big box stores who begrudgingly stuck the writer in the corner and did nothing to promote the event.
Here’s my reenactment of the big box experience vs. a book club visit…
The writing community needs to pull together to shine the light on local writers. The Midwest Writers (who have a new website, and are accepting registrations for their awesome summer conference) are hosting a new reading series in Muncie: The Message in a Bottle Reading Series.
I have a confession. I’ve never been to Los Angeles. I know that might be hard to believe, what with all my Hollywood good looks and all, but it’s true. (Of course I did spend 12+ hrs of my life at the airport that I’ll never get back, but that doesn’t really count.)
That’s about to change.
This week I’ll be in the LA-area speaking to three different groups, two of which are open to the public. If you are in the area, stop in and say “Hi” or heckle me. The question I’m really loving being heckled with right now is, “What ’bout ‘merica? We had jobs. We made stuff. Now look at us. We need…
