Down to the Wire

This has become my annual thing. As the year winds to a close, every project I’ve started in the past 12 months suddenly weighs ten tons on my shoulders. It’s irrational because time isn’t real. The last day of December is as arbitrary a deadline as the fourth day in January or the nineteenth of…

The Midwest Writing Center’s March Calendar is Positively Bursting

Note: yes, I realize we’re into the second week in March, but my left hand has carpal tunnel and my right has trackpad wrist. Take care of your hands, kids. The Midwest Writing Center in Rock Island, Illinois is one of the cornerstones of the arts community in the Quad Cities. All year long, they…

Calls for Submission

Call 1 Aubrey Barnes, the Midwest Writing Center’s Poet-in-Residence, is curating a community blog. He’s accepting submissions until November 25th – a little over two weeks from today. Nowhere in the call does it specify that you must be from the Quad Cities or even the Midwest; we’re a tolerant people. In addition to my own contribution,…

Free Ideas – Take One

There are few intellectual tragedies greater than having a good idea and being unable to see it realized for whatever reason: lack of funds, lack of expertise, lack of knowledge or time or resources, etc., etc. I often find myself adding a project to my list, knowing that I’ll never actually get it done. What…

News Briefs from the Goosetown Gazette

Sometimes newspaper articles or headlines inspire me to write a story. It’s a great writing exercise. Here’s a series I did a while ago. The headlines are real. The stories, not so much. Woman Charged with Neglecting Elderly Relative On Tuesday, Rebecca Weatherman, 33, was arrested on charges of physical and emotional abuse of her…

Child Star to Writer = Smart Move

Remember Mara Wilson? Child actress, precocious, cute as a button? I’m talking about this kid: She’s been on some television shows recently where the topic was child star meltdowns (à la Lohan, Bynes, Renfro, almost every kid who’s ever had anything to do with Disney, etc.), but not in the capacity you’d expect. Mara Wilson,…

October 1st: The Biggest Day So Far This October

Hello, Mr(s). National Security Agent! Are you filling out your Obamacare paperwork while you celebrate the first day of the NHL season? On a personal note: my credit card expired today! Take that, identity thieves! Now try to steal the money I don’t have. One yet another personal note: This is the first day of the…