Month: May 2016

1. I love living in New York City. But I also LOVE leaving New York City. Last week, I spent three days at the beach in Delaware with my Mom. I’ve been going to Bethany Beach most summers since I was eleven. It is comforting and also brings back so many sense memories of being different ages – which can be really helpful for my writing. Also reading on the beach = heaven (as do boardwalk fries and swirling scoops of vanilla frozen custard).
2. Speaking of beach reads… I adored reading Summer Days and Summer Nights a collection of short stories all about summer romance edited by Stephanie Perkins featuring many of my favorite YA writers (it’s a lot like My True Love Gave to Me). I also read The Haters, by Jesse Andrews and devoured A Court of Mist and Fury, by Sarah J. Mass (seriously I read this 600+ page book twice because I just couldn’t handle the story being over).
3. After finishing my thesis, I took a much longer break from writing than I intended. Maybe this is good. Maybe it is bad. Either way it happened. But I really am trying to dive back into revisions on my manuscript with a purpose. This week featured lots of exercises about a character that needs to be substantially re-imagined in my future drafts and the beginning of creating a new outline. Fun. A lot of work and some stress. But still fun.

A lot of good things happened this week. But one thing definitely outshines the rest. I graduated from my MFA program! I am now a master in writing for children. As you can tell from the photos above I have some mixed feelings. I love being in school. I love being able to call myself a student. I’m sad that this chapter is over.  But I am proud of myself. Proud of the writing I’ve done. Proud of the friends I’ve made and my personal grown. I’m proud and I’m excited (as well as pretty nervous) about what’s coming ahead.

1. On Thursday, I had my thesis reading. The Writing for Children graduates (all seven of us) came together to read 450 words from our theses (I read 522, but don’t tell anyone). After a semester working with just one writing partner and my advisor, it was so fun to hear everyone’s stories. My mom and Aunt Lucia came to visit for the event. And I felt so much love, pride, and accomplishment surrounded by family, friends, professors, and classmates.
2. Because my mom and aunt are visiting I’m getting to have some great meals and fun adventures. By far the best has been going to see the musical version of The Color Purple. One of the best plays I’ve ever seen.
3. My reading re-addiction is still going strong. I read and reviewed When We Collided, by Emery Lord. I also sped through Kill the Boy Band, by Goldy Moldavsky, and The Last Boy and Girl in the World, by Siobhan Vivian. Contemporary YA for the win! All delightful to read!
4. I had a guest post published in BookRiot, a blog I’ve been reading and loving for years. The post is called Boy Books, Girl Books, and Missing Out on Anne Frank. It’s about a specific experience in my life that shows gender prejudice in curriculum development. Hopefully, I will be writing many more things for BookRiot in the future.
5. Last night, I got to attend the thesis reading for the nonfiction cohort and today I’m going to see the fiction students read. There are so many friends that I’ve never heard read before and never read their writing. It is the most fun and a wonderful (albiet bittersweet) way to say goodbye to the program. Next stop graduation, which I almost can’t handle.