I have been a working writer (and teacher) for over 20 years, and in that time, I’ve come to believe that a writing life is uniquely structured to transform the soul. It will not give you the glib and easy surface of #blessed on Instagram but, if you clear space for it, writing (and its Siamese […]
After classes end, people often contact me saying they are having trouble finding time to write. Do I have any suggestions how they can do better? As a rule, I am against the how-to approach to writing because what makes the work sacred is how personal it is. Experience may bring a few tricks of the trade, […]
I started teaching for the same reasons that someone joins a convent or becomes a priest; to share a transcendent faith. Not the kind you may be picturing however, for this church is built on how writing transforms the soul. In the classroom, I open the doors to my cathedral, and we all learn more about why we […]
As I write children’s books, yet read widely outside the genre, and, by passionate choice don’t have children, Why do you do this comes up a lot. How I respond depends on who is asking (and how). My students always merit answers about voice, point of view and the young protagonist as the ultimate outsider in a world […]