Once upon a time, I was a teenager who had a garage darkroom. I read Margaret Atwood by that red light. The pages of my copy of The Handmaid’s Tale are curled up at the edges from being turned by … Read more

When all else fails to keep you in your chair to do the writing, head down to the Humane Society and get yourself a cuddly lap pet. I love it when our cat, Sugar Mama, curls up and falls asleep … Read more

Our little boy Liam + his toy giraffe = TRUE LOVE.

Seriously. You should see Liam glom onto “la jirafa” in his crib at bedtime: her horns her ears go straight into his mouth; he digs his fingers into the … Read more

The zero draft is how I trick myself into writing when it seems too scary to start THE novel. It’s all the exploratory writing that I do just to feel my way into the project. While I don’t make elaborate … Read more

Cool tattoos in the photo, right? But my tattoo’s not there. In fact, the tattoo artist cocked an eyebrow at me when he saw what I wanted. “Fifty bucks is the minimum,” he said. “Doesn’t matter how small the tattoo.” … Read more

The motto for MLK day events for the past few years has been, “A day on, not a day off.” But how do we get from “a day on” to “a life on”? Is activism everybody’s job?

Don’t get me … Read more

Here’s the last of my three-part resource blast for those of you looking to make (and follow through on) resolutions for the new year. Today’s post is a grab bag of rare non-fiction, self-help-y titles that have actually stuck with … Read more

Last Wednesday I started a little game of Two Truths and a Lie. What was the lie? It was…

3. Making a long drive is the only thing that can calm me down after reading a tear-jerker or watching a … Read more

Q: What’s the best technology in Ashley’s book? 

A: Um, magic. Duh.

That is, I want technology that makes things happen without me having to do, well, anything. Usually this means that I am disappointed and frustrated with technology. I … Read more

Last week I posted about books that might be useful in meeting writing resolutions for the new year. Here are some of my favorite teaching-related titles for folks making resolutions to up their efficacy in the classroom in 2011. In … Read more