Ten years ago, I spent most of my summer drafting and revising three short stories, all of which are a part of Measuring Time & Other Stories. That summer I was also preparing for the arrival of our son, and so those three stories remind me of that season. Today, I’ll share some thoughts on the first of these stories: “Wildlife.”
Season of Refreshment
For the season of Lent, I removed Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram from my phone. I also didn’t use those platforms on other devices or my computer. I did make an exception for a handful of scheduled posts and tweets related to some lecture and readings I gave.
I chose this particular fast with the hope that I would be more present in whatever I was doing, would be more attentive to those around me. Going into this fast I feared missing out on “important things.” As it turned out, however, my fear was unfounded.
From Measuring Time: “Measuring Time”
April is nearly over, and for the past few months, I’ve slowly journeyed through the manuscript of my forthcoming short-story cycle: Measuring Time & Other Stories. Rereading each story, making revisions large, medium, and small, I’m revisiting as well the writing adventure of each story. In preparation for the book’s release, I’ll be sharing more about the development of individual stories. Today, I’m writing about the title piece (and the oldest story): “Measuring Time.”
Time for a Novel
Last week I received some long hoped-for good news: my university awarded me a generous summer research grant to work on the next draft of a novel. When I submitted my application in October, I included a proposed timeline of May and June. But now there’s another challenge, beyond that of the actual writing.
An Audience for Poetry
Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to be a guest in classes taught by a colleague. As a part of her Religion & Literature courses, she assigned my poetry collection, Your Twenty-First Century Prayer Life. I visited both of her sections twice, with the one class session focused on the first half of the book and the other session focused on the second half.
