1. I got a tattoo of a single word (that is not a name) on my left hip to save my teaching career.

2. I want to be kept alive no matter how vegetably I seem. Just in case there’s … Read more

Last week I went to mail a single book at the post office. The Automated Postal thingie in the lobby was on the fritz, and little Liam and I ended up waiting in line for about forty-five minutes. A lot … Read more

Here’s a list of books and resources for moving forward with your resolutions for writing. Posts on teaching and general living-well resolutions to follow. Whatever your resolutions, I recommend finding a good way to track your daily progress. Check out … Read more

What is it about scars? I tend to think about them as a kind of record of my clumsiness: there’s where I fell off the see-saw, there’s where I cut myself opening a can, there’s where I burned myself trying to … Read more

I. love. cake. cookies. pies. Anything sweet and full of fat, it seems. I also love vegetables and other things, but these sweet monsters exercise a particular pull on me. Why do we love cake (and other fattening foods)? And … Read more

Okay, everyone should support the DREAM Act. But especially folks who think books and ideas matter. The undocumented immigrant population in our country is a rich fund of experience, stories, and intelligence, and I want to see these strengths represented … Read more

Last week I did a post about the challenges of sticking to a writing schedule these days (“these days” = now that I have a little boy).  I’ve been trying something new to help me meet my goal of doing … Read more

Shocking but true: hometowns change, even Kilgore, Texas. While home over the holidays, I discovered that the gritty, grubby, but very lovable oil town that I called home for 16 years now has… a bookstore. And not just any bookstore. … Read more

Something I already know: Good daily habits are not just for goody-two-shoes. They’re what it takes to get a book written.

Since our son Liam Miguel was born in April of 2010, I’ve had a hard time sticking to a … Read more