Greetings all. You can find out what I’ve been up to lately at SparklySparkly (namely, travelling to Finland and eating too much cheese.)

In the creative writing realm, things have been a bit slow. I gained all sorts of momentum on my latest novel while teaching my class “Turn down the volume and pump up the word count” at Richard Hugo House in the winter. Then, in mid-April I actually had to some work to survive, plus there was my trip to sunny Finland, so writing ground to a halt.

Meanwhile I’m waiting with baited breath to see if I get a “scholarship” to attend Donald Maas’ insanely expensive (but probably worth it) “Writing the Breakout Novel” workshop in September. I had to turn in 5000 words of my novel to apply so at least it gave me something work for. They weren’t exactly the most sparkling 5000 words I’ve ever written but eh, they weren’t the worst either. One of these days I hope to hit my stride as a writer and really *produce* but for now I have to be patient with my own slow pace (you too dear fans — all three of you– and for that, I apologize).

This past April, I also taught some fun classes at Pacific Lutheran University with fellow Seattle writer Wendy Call and finished up teaching my Blogging 101 class for the Editorial Freelancer’s Association. In the next couple months you’ll be able to find me teaching and blabbing at the locations below. Find details about these events on my Appearances & teaching page.

• Teaching a free blogging workshop at Edmonds Community College on May 19
• Hawking my book at Balderash Books during the June 12 Greewood Artwalk
• Teaching a four-week class on story structure at Richard Hugo House starting July 8
• Teaching another free blogging workshop at the Seattle Public Library (University Branch) on July 13