Hurts So Good

My writing group friends agree: there is such a thing as a “good” rejection letter. As I have reported in the past (Boomerang), an unfortunately much-too-common rejection letter in the publishing industry is no rejection letter—no response at all, which has the result of making one feel like pond scum, or worse, invisible pond scum.…

Zap!

When I was in my 20s I used to say, “I write when an essay strikes me” or “I have to wait until it’s all there, inside me, ready to come out.”   What luxury. Possibility and time were abundant then; pure, delicious creativity the only motivator. If I’d continued waiting for an essay to…