Author, Editor of Memoir & Narrative Nonfiction
Last time I posted here I was trying to get comfortable with writing, trying to get back to work on the manuscript of my new book idea. I was in the place of weighing old material, beckoning new material, struggling to find a way…
When my mom got sick and I traveled to her home to take care of her, I left behind a manuscript one-third done—the beginning of a new book of memoir, the concept of which I was crazy about. I thought it was solid work. Then…
July 2010 I’ve been back from Europe long enough to skitter into the chaos of day-to-day life, but not so long that I have forgotten what it felt like to be rising every day to ride a train to a new locale, to have no…
I have been back in America for weeks now. I never posted again after Brussels. Why? The day I took the train out of Brussels, destined for my last stop on the Continent, I emerged from the station in Amsterdam and tumbled into a setting…
May 20, 2010 Lots of cold and rainy weather as I travel. It’s been hard to coordinate time to write here with the appearance of trustworthy wifi. But here I am—in Brussels, Belgium. This is a city balanced somewhere between old and new, striving to…
May 11, 2010 Dear Reader, I have been dragging my heels about writing here of Paris. Why? Because, quite frankly, my experience did not live up to the myth I was seeking: Ah . . . Paris in spring . . . . The…
May 6, 2010 I am in Paris. My first evening here I washed some clothing in the bathroom sink; it was time. I’d been holding out on a pair of silk pajamas. It’s true, dear reader, I had not washed them since I left home,…
May 4, 2010 I ate salmon grilled crispy on the outside this evening, moist and juicy inside, served with carrots cut on the bias and coated with the most luscious sauce. Simple food, but so satisfying to the soul. Served just off the Place d’Armes…
April 29, 2010 Have you ever been so tired you just don’t feel inspiried? Here I am finally with a real internet connection, and I can’t think of a thing, witty or clever to say, just that I’ve been traveling day-to-day. Venice, to Vienna, to…
April 26, 2010 I’ve detoured off the path of my parents’ journey and traveled across Austria to Vienna, a city I’ve wanted to see ever since my study of music in college. Access to internet has become harder and harder to maintain on this trip.…