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JENKNOX
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“We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.”
I'm visiting this sorely neglected blog to share some exciting news. After the Gazebo is now available for pre-order at
Amazon and
Rain Mountain Press. I hope you'll check it out. I am incredibly proud of the book and eager to share it with you.
I have a touch of stomach flu (not the ideal way to get me time), so I am off to watch
Wild and hang out with my dog. Before I go, though, here's a quick prompt:
Read and reread your favorite poem. Take the premise and run with it as a short story. Or vice versa. I assure you, this prompt will take you places wholly unexpected.
xo Jen
I took a long weekend to relax a bit, to write and recharge. I feel fortified. Sometimes it feels as though I need to schedule time to breathe, then when I do have time I forget how to relax. I know I'm not the only writer who feels like this. For those of us, here's a prompt I offer as a writing coach:
1. Set a timer for five minutes and free-write.
2. Set a time for ten minutes and breathe. (Breathe and walk, breathe and meditate, or just stare out the window and breathe.)
3. Set a timer for ten minutes and write as fast s you possibly can. When you're done, hit save and go about your day.
This no-prompt exercise is something of a writing meditation, and it's designed to clear the slate and take a writer completely out of the day-to-day. It reminds me to breathe.
In writing news: I have a brand new piece up at The Saturday Evening Post. News on After the Gazebo is forthcoming. Big news. Huge. :)
Enjoy your week, and remember to breathe!
xo Jen
New Work! I have a new piece up at Per Contra. It's synergistic to be writing a Rattle story the day another one is published. I hope you enjoy it! "Scratching the Silver" is a prequel to "West on N Road" (published in Superstition Review). It is about the time Rattle tried to reach out to his daughter, a time she may or may not remember later. It's here.
The San Antonio Lit Fest happened. What a whirlwind! I can honestly say that not one the lovely readers in the image below didn't impress and inspire me. We came, we read, we connected. It was beautiful.
That said, it is not easy to put together a reading for 13 people. I had been so nervous about organizing everything that I didn't really prepare fully my own reading, and I didn't sleep. I double-checked everything, bought a Thank You card for the library manager who had reserved the space. For all the double-checking, however, and all the assurances that everything was in place, we showed up to find the library manager gone and those remaining unaware of our event. The lights were off in the area due to energy savings for Spring Break, and two of the readers were lost. Timing was tight, and we ran out of time for the last few readers.
That real-life, blooper-like glimpse behind the scenes aside, the reading was a success. Steve Adams, who has a background in theater, saved our lighting situation and even upped it a notch, giving us artistic halos. The readings themselves were so incredibly diverse and poignant. The people behind the writers were a blast to hang out with after our reading. Just look at that crew... totally worth every last minute of preparation. I'm ready for the next iteration. I'm old hand now.
Today's writing prompt:
Using my sneak peek as a model, write a story in which a character has big plans for something that doesn't go as expected. Throw a series of obstacles in the character's way. Stretch your mind to imagine every single thing that could go wrong in this scenario. And if you're feeling generous, maybe make it all work out in the end.
Enjoy your week!
xo Jen
People have never seemed to have any reservation about asking me for favors. Usually, I'm more than happy to help out and make the time. Meanwhile, I hate asking for favors myself. I'm a horribly busy person, and those I have to ask favors from are busy too, but I have swallowed my desire to say I don't want to be a bother him/her (lame desire), and have asked anyway because, quite frankly, I currently need help getting things done right now. This is a temporary situation, and it has taught me a lot.
One way I've been putting myself out there is in regards to After the Gazebo. When a book is about to come out, a writer needs to stand tall and own her work, put it out there and collect feedback, work with her publisher (mine, Rain Mountain Press, makes this part easy), and tell the world about the art she is going to share.
We almost have a cover for After the Gazebo. The unveiling is forthcoming. The winners from my website will be announced. I am collecting encouraging blurbs (one of many things I've been asking for lately). In fact, here are a few to whet the appetite a bit:
“Jen Knox writes the healthy fiction equivalent of the detox smoothie you’d get if you poured half a cup of Mary Gaitskill, two tablespoons of Mary Robison, a teaspoonful of Raymond Carver, and some chilly Laura van den Berg, into a Tom Waits blender and hit puree. Here are twenty-four darkly fun stories populated by everyman and everywoman genetically predisposed to ‘tough luck but hopeful genes,’ and primed for fight or flight. And yet she has the uncanny ability to make you root for even her most unredeemed characters in all of their stressed out glory. All of them inhabitants of our lonely damaged universe, searching for connection in the daily grind of everyday losses.
—Richard Peabody, editor Gargoyle Magazine
The perfect pitch, the flawless diction, and the aura of calm are all grace notes with which Jen Knox cloaks the troubled waters of the human heart. A Knox tale begins in a recognizable place, but in every one of these brilliant stories, she confounds the reader’s expectations and ends them in eerily beautiful, untrod territory. The stories in After the Gazebo seduce yet refuse what is coarse; they disdain the slipknot of the obscene, and still they electrify. Exquisite and edgy, they quietly shock. The reader bestows a rock solid trust in this narrator’s voice and is willing to linger with the energy drinks and flat-screen TVs, the 12 Steps, the cubicles and performance reviews, the bus rides and DMV’s eye tests. This author does not hide behind the exotic but with great skill and generosity braves the commonplace. These stories go fathoms deep—all the way to the shivery core, where the familiar heightens into the sublime, and then into the dazzling. The perceptible world has been sorely neglected in fiction, perhaps waiting for a writer with the craft and courage to take it on. Jen Knox is that writer. After the Gazebo is that book.
—Stephanie Dickinson, author of Love Highway
Amazing blurbs from amazing writers, right? And there are more. I'm floored. I recently wrote a piece on fostering literary citizenship, as inspired by my trip to Otterbein University, and it appears in Fiction Southeast. In it I mention the feedback loop that develops when a writer reads and a reader writes. I mention giving but also knowing when to nurture your own work. The balancing act can be tricky, but it is so incredibly gratifying when such kind words are offered by writers whose works I have long admired (check out The Richard Peabody Reader and Love Highway). Since I haven't posted in a while, I wanted to close by sharing one of the prompts I give my one-on-one writing students because I find it great for those who have trouble finishing stories:
Write a dynamite opening sentence. Write a dynamite closing sentence. Let them sit a few days, maybe a week, then when you have 20-30 minutes to write (after these two lines have cooled off and been churned around in your thoughts), fill in the blanks. Have a wonderful weekend. Love what and who you have to love. Do the work. Be proud of it. Ask for help. Stand tall. (I love this woman's hair.)
xo Jen
I don't talk much about the larger world here. I don't talk about world news or even local news. Instead, I talk about me and/or writing. This is a micro blog, and I'm guessing it can be more interesting some days than others.
I'll keep it short today and relate this whole micro/macro thing to a suggested writing prompt.
- I almost did a handstand at yoga class today (I have a block around this, so it's kind of a big deal).
- I recently wrote a story about a snowstorm. The story, which is up at Atticus Review, can be read online here: A Perpetual State of Awe.
- I saw Varekai this week, which was great.
- I decided to go to a improv class soon ("Let's do more cultural things," Chris said. Hope he won't regret it when he's pulled up on stage.)
- Because I'm in San Antonio, I can't too much complain about the weather, but the dog park was overcrowded due to the sunshine. *Sigh.*
- I planned to write this blog this morning, but I kept getting distracted.
- I've had a tough Sunday filled with bad news.
To sum up the "tough," let's just say three people I love are in a lot of pain, physical or otherwise. This is tough. I personally feel good but am struggling with a project that means a lot to me. This is about as vague as a stock horoscope in a free weekend newspaper, isn't it? Well good. Why dwell? Problems pass. Things change. Besides, I have a prompt to offer you, a prompt based on how A Perpetual State of Awe evolved:
Write about a natural disaster (flood, blizzard, drought, earthquake), and show your characters struggling to work something out in conversation in the midst of this macro problem.
I don't think this one needs timed because it will quite easy for many to write. We've all been through some sort of extreme weather or conditions while dwelling on some other, smaller scale problem. The premise can evolve slowly.
I'm off to start a new week. I wish you a lovely one, a week filled with joy or at least contentment. I wish you good weather and good food and at least a few full nights of sleep. xo Jen
I enjoyed discussing the challenges of the writing life and the possibilities that are made with a sense of literary citizenship. Although I was speaking and reading and even acting (unexpectedly and for the first time) in a play, I managed to also listen.
Takeaways from the Literary Citizenship Festival at Otterbein College that I had to share:
"Find a way to be big in the world." -Ladan Osman
"Find a chosen family of artists and writers." -Becca JR Lachman
"What motivates me is when people say I can't." -Jen Roberts
This was a great time, and going home reminded me of just how much changes in so few years. People do change. Well, some people. This brings me to a writing prompt (the one I plan to use this week):
A reunion of friends: Two characters haven't seen each other in 10+ years. One character has changed dramatically (become more successful or squandered gifts), the other is in largely the same place and with largely the same view of the world. As they meet to reconnect, it quickly becomes clear that they can't easily pick up where they left off. Write their conversation over that first meeting after so many years and so many experiences. Have a great week!
I've been having nightmares about hackers and cyber terrorism lately, so I figured I had better post here because what better prompt?
My dream went like this: I woke up in the middle of the light, and my phone was buzzing and lighting up. When I picked it up, a screeching sound came from the tiny speakers and a rough-chinned man with a hoodie on glared at me from the screen. He told me my online persona no longer existed, and that he owned it now. He told me all my accounts were now his, and that it would take years to rebuild everything. He told me he didn't want to be me, only to show me how fleeting it all is. Then my screen went black. I tried to turn on my laptop, and it too was dead. I looked out my back window, and the guy was there, hands in pockets, then I woke up with the feeling that this was happening across the country.
Scary? Mmmhmmm. So this week's prompt:
Write a flash piece about technology terrorism and how a victim of online identity theft would handle the situation. Write for 20 minutes, then stop. Go back and revise later.
That's it. Go!
My new collection of fiction, AFTER THE GAZEBO, is more experimental than anything I've ever done. As I work with Rain Mountain Press to finalize everything and get ready for the spring release, I wanted to invite you all to vote on the cover. Everyone who votes will be entered to win a free copy when it comes out. See the options on my website. We are leaning toward one of the three, but I figure it will be a fun giveaway.
I probably won't have time to post next weekend due to the literary citizenship festival, but meet me back here in two weeks. That is, if I'm not cyber destroyed. :)
xo Jen
I have been invited to speak at Otterbein College, where I earned my undergraduate degree in English, to speak on the subject of Literary Citizenship. Although speaking and participating in panel discussions (not to mention reading from my work) will be a great honor, I have to admit that I am most honored and engaged by the topic itself. In order for there to be literary citizenship, there must be literary community. Although I will put together a more complete argument, here's what I've teased out so far:
The literary citizen must adopt four different roles to be an active citizen:
Writer
|
Reader
|
Teacher
|
Muse
I recently read Julia Cameron's fantastic book,
The Artist's Way. In it she suggests that people adopt shadow professions in place of the artistic professions they desire. One example was the teacher who secretly wants to be a novelist. I agree with much of what is in this book, but I think literary citizenship is about adopting all roles. The novelist is made stronger by engaging in the literary world as a teacher as well as a reader and audience. If I could make the above a circle, it would be more in-line with what I believe. I hope I can portray my thoughts on the matter in a coherent way when I go. I am very, very excited.
In place of a writing prompt today, also, I have an announcement:
I HAVE A NEW BOOK COMING OUT!!!!
I signed the contract yesterday. It is a full-length collection entitled
After the Gazebo, after the story
here. It will feature band new stories and much of my work over the last two years. More soon, but if you'd like to get one of the very first copies, email me:
[email protected] :)
*If you're in the Columbus area,
here's the agenda.
The first week back to a cubicle job, after quite a few days off for holidays, is rough. I ended up making it to the weekend (almost) and then wanting nothing more than to collapse. I've been doing some freelance work that ended up taking most of my free time, however, so my resting time was cut a bit short. Then I realized I was late for yoga. Even though I find my work stimulating and teaching/freelancing gratifying, I realized how much I was craving rest when, after a yoga class, I sat down on the couch to read and fell from conscious reality fast. I woke dazed and relieved.
My non-stop pattern of work has been recurrent in my life. As a writer, I have always wanted to do and try everything, at least once, so I can't say no for fear of missing out on knowing just what this or that would be like. What ends up happening, however, is that my schedule becomes so tight I barely leave room for air.
I love being busy, but it also comes with real challenges. First, everyone needs rest. Second, every writer needs to write. Otherwise, we go rather batty. To put it nicely. In the past, when I haven't listened to my body's pleas for rest, it has slowed me down with force - either illness or injury - and I thought this would make an interesting prompt.
Write about a person who is going non-stop, maybe a corporate Type A or a Type B with delusions of grandeur (or, ahem, both). Start with this person in the middle of his/her work routine, then bam! Slow this person down. How does the character change? This is a simple plot, but it has potential to be quite dynamic.
Have a great week, everyone! Don't forget to breathe. xo Jen
 |
| "New Start" by Ryzaki |
Happy New Year!!!
As you may know, I am a big fan of resolutions. I am a huge fan of new beginnings. In order to begin anew, however, one must take stock of where she's at. As much as I'd love to let Facebook do it for me, I think I'll sum up my year myself, no algorithm, just plain old human memory bank.
In 2014, I traveled to Seattle for AWP in February, I began work as a research analyst across ICT markets, I published a fiction chapbook that I love even after print,
Don't Tease the Elephants. I ventured to Nebraska and had truly life-changing time at The Art Farm. I visited my family in Massachusetts, and I struggled to write a novel. I finished a novel. I spent good time walking and dining with and hugging my husband and dog. We found a new living space and set up home. We spent a lot of money on Christmas decorations and enjoyed a solitary if beautiful holiday. I made new friends. I decided to do more in 2015. This is all the good stuff, the stuff I talk about. I also had surgery on my ear; took my husband to many, many, many appointments; worried over family and friends; beat myself up here and there for not doing better, looking better, being better. But to bring it back home, I am grateful for this year. So incredibly happy to have survived another one and to have made it to the year Back to the Future Part II took place in. To 2015!!!
I'll post a new prompt next week. Proud to have these final publications for 2014:
writing to art in:
& my piece on not having children in:
2015 Resolutions:
- Be good to my friends, love them unconditionally
- Write more regularly, find my routines
- Find representation for my novel and work on the second one diligently
- Have fun
- Keep believing that things can happen at those moments it doesn't feel as though they will
- Travel more, host literary events, give back to the literary community
- Laugh more
- Try a new food, at least one
- Meditate regularly, to keep perspective
- Zip line some damn where
- Go to Honduras, go home, attend a residency
- Do more of what is in-line with who I am
- Have fun!
2015 is the year of the Ram in Chinese astrology. Jupiter is in Leo. Technology will continue to converge. New mobile gadgets will be created. My dog will hit the magical 2-year birthday in which she is supposedly going to calm down a little bit and lose her taste for my shoes.
I can't wait. I am ready to resolve to begin again.
I've been relishing the holiday break. Spending some time writing and reflecting, hanging out with my husband with no rush to be here or there has been divine. On Christmas Eve, we were treated to a free four-course meal at a Jason Dady restaurant, Tre Trattoria, in San Antonio due to a reservation conflict. We ate caprese salads, cioppino, rainbow trout, and Nutella dessert 3 ways. Divine. We bought a bottle of wine and tipped generously to show thanks and will most definitely return again. On the 26th, I was thrilled to find Room Magazine in my mailbox, which so lovingly contains my piece "My Children in Times New Roman." It is perhaps my favorite piece to-date, mainly because I wrote it not only for myself but for all women who cannot or do not have children.
Also, given the time off, I was able to begin planning a March reading at San Antonio College. I've invited Melissa Studdard, JP Reese, Amy King, Jane Hammons, Bill Yarrow, Meg Tuite, and Lynn Beighly to read at SAC on March 7th, and I do believe it will be a blast. If you're in the area, plan on coming to hear us from 3-5PM. After, there will be a party. Before that, I head to Otterbein in Columbus to assist in a workshop about literary citizenship. I love that my year will begin with so many literary events, as I've felt a lack there since mid-summer.
In lieu of writing a story this week, I recommend writing an extra set of resolutions. One of your own, if you so please (no diets allowed) and one of a fictitious character - who will appear in a story later on. For my part, I will write Rattle's resolutions. I hope you have fun with this one.
Happy New Year! I'll post resolutions next week. xoxo Jen
I have been missing posts here, after such a good run. I have, however, been writing here and there. Here, at Fiction Southeast, I have a micro essay on why I believe we still read, despite claims of lowered attention spans and tech-assisted laziness. I also have a piece forthcoming about online personas and their value to the modern-day artist.
BUT I haven't been here. I suppose it's partially due to my busy schedule, school winding down for the term, the holidays, the freelance work I've picked up. Perhaps I have something I want to talk about but can't. Yet. Nevertheless, here I am with a prompt. For you.
Write a story with three characters. Character A is missing and Character B is looking for him/her. Character C finds Character A but doesn't tell Character B. Why?
It's something of a mystery, and if you write to it, let me know how it goes.
I'm not with my family this year, so I will be having a quiet holiday with my husband and pup. It's strange how not being with family makes you appreciate them all the more.
I wish everyone reading this a very happy holiday season. Enjoy your families and friends, and if you are alone, do something good for yourself. Or for someone else. Enjoy, eat well, and don't feel as though you have to purchase needless things. Only give what matters.
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| San Antonio looks nothing like this, but this is how I still think of the holidays. |
The first full week back to work after a holiday is a long week indeed. I am currently wrapping up my fiction writing class and preparing for yet another break in January, and I'm psyched because I'm tired (see: fewer posts to blog).
I had a Rattle story come out this week, in Superstition Review XIV entitled West on N Road. I am particularly fond of SR because it is the journal that published the first story I wrote that I felt was complete and whole. It's available in issue IV. West on N Road is a longer piece, but I hope you'll read it. Another one, a sort of prequel, will be out in Per Contra soon.
For kicks, and because I begged him, Chris drew up an older Rattle for me, which I love. This piece captures a part of his final journey (it is not the end).
 |
| Rattle for West on N Road by Christopher J Shanahan |
I find that images are very powerful ways to bring out stories, so in lieu of a textual prompt this week, try to write to the following image. Just examine in a while, set a timer for 20 minutes, and GO!
Have a great week, all! xo Jen
I hope you had a wonderful thanksgiving if you celebrate the holiday and are reading this. My Thanksgiving was quiet. My husband and I didn't travel as planned, so we ended up going to the Riverwalk, and after a short walk I settled in for some gumbo at Luke. Check out that gumbo... man, good stuff. My husband had the more traditional Thanksgiving dinner shown below my beautiful bowl of gumbo. We had a fantastic time, though I missed my friends and family quite a lot.
After dinner, for some reason, we decided we wanted to buy Christmas lights, and what was open? You got it. Walmart. Bad, bad, bad, bad idea. We walked in and walked out. Did I mention it was a bad idea? It was.
I have mixed feelings about Thanksgiving. I love the fact that we celebrate in the spirit of gratitude, but the association of binge eating then relaxing, Al Bundy-style, on the couch for hours afterward is enough to feed the global image of American gluttony. Nonetheless, food is fascinating. I watch the Food Network regularly and love to eat and totally understand why so many celebrations come together with food (massive amounts or no). The ritual aspect makes for a good prompt.
Sensory prompt: Write about a celebratory ritual through the preparation of food. The eating itself isn't nearly as important as the cooking - use the prep, the cutting, the baking, the aromas, the conversation, the roles in and outside of the kitchen as your way of progressing time, and portraying a group of people gathered for celebration. Anytime there's a group, family, work, yoga class, college... there is opportunity for conflict as well, so just allow that part to develop on its own. Have a wonderful holiday weekend! Relax and eat, if not too much, just enough. Savor the time and the people around you. xo
Well, actually, I'd also like a bunch of material things, such as some new clothes and teas and coffees and maybe a gift certificate or two to a decent restaurant so that I can entertain my fantasy of being a real-life "foodie" and not just live vicariously as I watch the Food Network.
I'm caught up in my wants today for some reason. I blame early Christmas commercials, the music, the wreaths... all of this makes me think of presents. Not just receiving, mind you, but giving as well. I love giving gifts. I enjoy watching someone unwrap whatever material thing I have injected with good intentions and love, especially when the present hits the mark and earns a genuine smile.
As I make my list this year, I can't help but think lists are an excellent device for creative writing. In nonfiction, Lena Dunham's Not That Kind of Girl uses this device expertly. Leonard Michaels' "In the Fifties" is a good example as well, a listing that becomes a sketch of a narrator's experience of an era.
I think it would make a good prompt for fiction. Each list item can help the progression and smooth out an otherwise more erratic delivery. I'm going to do this prompt with you, that is, if you do it...
Write a short list of presents, for Christmas or whatever holiday/birthday that best suits your purpose:
John, socks - silly-themed socks
Candie, self-help books
George, flavored hot chocolates
Mark, a wallet with a foreign coin in it
Terra, crystals and books on crystals, a candle
etc...
Then, beneath each character and present designation, write out the narrator's reasoning--a short sketch that introduces both the person and this person's relationship to the narrator. The challenge is to see if you can tie it all together at the end (a neat little bow, if you will).
Let me know if it's successful. Let me know if it's a disaster. Whatever, I think it will be fun.
I haven't reported much writing news lately, but you know how nothing happens for a while, then bam! There it all is? Well, something like that is going down, so I'll post updates soon. Work is forthcoming in Superstition Review, Sleet Magazine, Room Magazine, and there may be a fiction collection in the near future. Stay tuned...
xo Jen
I hope your week was fantastic. Mine was eventful. My husband arrived home after approximately five weeks of travel. He had visited various places in Europe, came back to the states briefly for a trade show in Vegas, then went to Australia and New Zealand. Being alone in our new place was quite nice the first few weeks, then it started getting old and, as you can see from my previous entry, with boredom comes ill-conceived landscaping. (Helpful tip: If you just keep adding mulch, eventually things work out.)
My new fiction writing class began this week. I have 28 students this term, and I am excited to see what they can do. I am also excited to return to my Rattle novel. I have a lot of opportunities in the works concerning completed work, so I am also awaiting many answers... This place of unknowing is both fun and torturous. I know this is all vague, but hopefully good news to come.
You know, I don't usually know what I'm going to suggest as a writing prompt until I get to this point in my blog, but this makes the challenge fun. I usually just draw from whatever I'm thinking about or recently did. Yesterday, I went to a Halloween party and had to improvise my outfit (see right) because my original (a Mona Lisa get-up) hadn't arrived in time. Thanks to a few
YouTube videos, Tim Burton, and a lot of experimenting, I put together a costume. My husband bought a mask, and we were set. There were quite a few people at this party, and the costumes were so good that we didn't recognize the folks we knew. Not recognizing who you're speaking with could lead to conflict in the right situation. Bingo! We have a prompt.
Write a story about two characters who know each other. One begins confiding in the other, not realizing who the other is. Go! <1 i="" nbsp="" words.="">
Since next weekend is Halloween proper, if you write to this and you'd like me to post your story (or part of it as a teaser), let me know.
"If one really loves nature, one can find beauty everywhere.”
-Vincent van Gogh
It has been an interesting week. While my husband is away, now in New Zealand and his time away adding up to about five weeks, I have been getting a little stir crazy. This is partly because I had an outpatient surgery on my ear to remove an ill-placed and "suspicious" mole (redhead problems and, yes, partly why I was drawn to the van Gogh quote). I have been rather irritated by nagging (but not horrible) pain and an inability to wear my hair up comfortably while it heals.
Meanwhile, I was thrilled to find one of my most personal and intimate pieces of fiction (originally an essay that I decided to get a little more experimental with) was accepted into a notable magazine. More on that soon. And it looks like my first column will be coming out in Fiction Southeast in November (first and second, as it stands now). So the good with the bad.
To occupy my mind and keep myself busy to distract myself from my ear, I've been doing some yard work. Some pretty shoddy yard work, so much so I don't want to post pics. Okay, here are some pics. I mean... even the one bundle of San Antonio-appropriate flowers I bought is dying after a matter of weeks. I started pouring mulch over dead grass and hoping for the best, and that hasn't worked out so well yet either.
Perhaps, like most of my artistic ventures, it will eventually morph into something tolerable looking, or I'll just have to tinker forever and the phases will come and go. No matter, I love my backyard.
Much as I continue to tinker in that wonderful mess you see above, so goes the same for the writing. Writers have to start and restart again. It's the nature of our art, and the trick (as I see it) is just getting started.
Instead of giving you a scenario for a writing prompt today, I thought I'd pick a line and say, "Go!" A friend of mine from undergrad, playwright Jennifer Roberts, suggested this practice one day a long time ago, wherein we would grab a favorite book, open to a random passage, point, write a sentence and say, "Go!" Then, we'd start the timers and write. Clear stories or nonsensical ramblings, it didn't matter. Sometimes we'd share our work, other times not. No pressure, just creation. So, here we go...
It is hardly surprising that so many people lose their tempers with so many other people.
Write this sentence down, then set the timer for 20 minutes and Go!
*If you have any ideas for the backyard, I'll all ears (well... kind of)
Massage should be covered under everyone's preventative care plans. I truly believe this. That said, when I get a massage, which I try to do as often as finances allow to offset the time I'm hunched over a computer, the therapist always tells me I should come back more often or come back for a longer session next time or try cupping or try hot stones... This is probably part of the routine, the up-sell. But what's not part of the routine is the crunchy, stuck, tight muscles around my shoulders, which don't seem to loosen up, no matter who I go to. I breathe into the muscles deeply, take baths with salts and relaxing bubbles, meditate... nothing helps. More than a few times, I've heard, "Your muscles are the tightest I've seen on a person your size." I've also heard, "You're almost as bad as the bodybuilders that come in." Seeing as how I lift weights once a month, maybe, if I can get on the floor long enough to do a few 5 lb raises to strengthen my triceps before the dog starts walking on my face, the comparison isn't complimentary as much as worrisome.
On the occasion I am able to get a massage, I always ask the therapist the same thing to divert attention from my stubborn muscles. "I bet you have stories, eh? What's your craziest?" Inevitably, there's an affirmative, and often a story. Herein is this week's prompt:
A massage therapist, male or female, is working on a client who doesn't follow protocol. What does the client do or say? How does the therapist react? Is there awkward small talk? Confrontation? Take it where it goes, and end with the client getting dressed, the therapist outside the door, waiting with a plastic cup of water.
I'm going to work on my ergonomics and stretching routine this week. I wish you comfort.
xo Jen
My new townhouse is located directly behind both an Italian restaurant and a trendy cafe that, together, make my the air smell like a delicious mix of bread-y comfort foods, sugars and spices. My mouth waters every time I go outside. When I was a kid, our house was near a Wonder Bread factory, and every morning as I sat at the bus stop, I closed my eyes and inhaled the rich, soft air. No matter what I went through when I was younger, that smell was like a hug.
This brings me to a new prompt, inspired by the olfactory effect on our memories and sense of self. Have fun with it:
Character X is in an argument with Character Y. Character X is just about to take the argument too far when a smell overcomes both characters. It can be a horrible smell, the burning of plastic or fresh spray of a skunk. Or, it can be a comforting smell, someone barbecuing or a perfume that calls to mind someone now gone. The two characters assign different memories and emotions to the same smell. In the time it takes for them to pause, their worlds are shaken. They return to the argument, but everything has changed.
Have a great week! I'll be posting again soon. In the meantime, I think I'll get something to eat. 
I'm so enamored with Margaret Atwood and always have been. One of my favorite books, Robber Bride, makes my ultra-short list of regular rereads. It is not her most popular book, but I love the complex story she delivers with such a digestible delivery. Her work appeals to a sense of living both in life and beyond it, so it warmed my heart to hear of her participation in the Future Library Project. If you haven't read about it, check it out here. Atwood's future-thinking work is the perfect addition to a library of content that will be unavailable until 2114. To me, this is what writing is about--it's about transcending our experience and exploring it. I would love to do something like this.
In the meantime, here's a new short story. It's on transference and what it means to let go of those you look to for definition, especially when it's family. Read it at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, or Kobo.
I'm moving this weekend, so I'll keep it short (Take my advice, and never move. Never, never!). Lots to do, but I am happy to now have a place where the pup will have a backyard. I'll post pics soon. :)
Here's a writing prompt that I came up with after a strange incident:
Write a story about a character who is doing something routine (e.g., taking a walk, taking out the trash) when a dog begins to chase him/her. The character runs off-course and continues to run until s/he is in an area of town never before explored. It could be as surreal or normal a place as you'd like, but tell the story of running into something new after running away... Go!
Enjoy your week!
xo Jen
“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” —Mark Twain
The right word makes all the difference because there is always a right word, even though there may be many synonyms. I believe this to be true, and I know a lot of words (that happens to us readers), but sometimes that perfect word doesn't come readily. Sometimes lately, however, I have to go back to a piece dozens of times before that right word comes. I noticed this more in recent years, and it could be just that I am a more conscientious writer. But I can't help but wonder if this is, in fact, a result of knowing more than I used to.
I first heard about the Internet of Things a year ago, but I didn't really care to understand it. Recently, however, it seems to come up a lot, and now that I know what I do, I can't stop thinking about it. This concept is basically that any device can be connected to any other device, assuming both are connected to an internet source. This means the amount of connected data is so vast that its value is diluted, creating a problem for those looking to answer specific questions from unique connected devices. This is probably not the best definition.
Wiki may do it better, but the basic concept is that if we have access to too much at one time, we become overwhelmed and have trouble assigning value to a thing.
I feel like much of our lives - being on Facebook and Twitter and Tumblr and Instagram, while also streaming TV and chatting via work computer systems that have completely different rules and protocol than home systems, and playing games, even worrying about identity theft as we enter our credit card numbers into an online service while knowing that hackers are capable of pretty much watching our every move - is a balance between wanting to be heard and wanting to be left alone. It seems very few people don't want at least a little of both, and the way to accomplish that is to streamline what we do. Cut the social media to the bare bones and set time/day limits to use so as to, I don't know, live a little.
This is a topic I plan to explore more in a forthcoming blog post, possibly a blog post for Fiction Southeast, but I can't help but think about it as I pack my stuff, preparing for a move, as I realize how many physical objects are being replaced by fewer but more connected objects.
This is my prompt for the week (it's connected and a little more abstract than usual):
Write about a person who is lonely for whatever reason and reaches out online. Eventually, said person is so connected that he or she loses track of his/her individuality. But write about this person from either another character's POV or from a third-person POV. Write about this person's life as her/his identity fades and fragments, and decide if there is a solution that eventually brings solidification. Maybe this is a good thing, maybe not.
I think this will be a particularly challenging one. I think I'll pack another box before I try it. :)
Have a beautiful weekend, all! And if you're in the states, enjoy the extra day.
xo Jen
We’re moving! Chris and I found a place that has a big backyard and just enough room for us, and we’re finally getting out of the mega-complex apartment living. No more creaky footsteps at 2 a.m., no more hearing the neighbor burp and cough and groan from the bathroom, and no more parking wars. We’ll have our own spot! Can you feel my excitement? Cause it’s there. Big time.
Though we’ll still be renting, this is a big move for us, and the quality of life factor will go from about 2 to about 8, assuming there are no angry ghosts or secret mold issues in this place that we haven’t realized. In preparation for our big move, I’ve learned a few things and I thought I’d share. Here they are:
- If you have a bunch of books to sell to Half-price or another such place, take them in installments. They will give you the exact same amount for two boxes (at least around here) as they will one.
- Double-check the donation box for things you actually want to keep before handing it over. It’s really embarrassing to say, oh, actually, can I have that one dress back?
- The unpacked boxes from the last move probably don’t need to move with you because they’ll probably remain unpacked. Unload the unneeded.
- Try to get a lot done on the weekends and not continuously ask your boss to leave early during lay-off season.
- Research the best set-top boxes and streaming for Internet and cable (there’s a lot of value variance).
- If you write, still make time to write, even though you have less than half of half of the time you used to.
I’ll have more later, I’m sure. So. Much. Work. To. Do.
I have a writing prompt this week. A quick aside: I try to write to all these, too, so if you ever come up with something you'd like to share, let me know. I'd love to read it, and if you'd like, post it.
And... here it is...
A middle-aged character just moved and is shopping for the first time at the new neighborhood grocery. S/he’s loving it—just look at that organic section!—until s/he begins to feel as though s/he’s being followed. S/he imagines s/he’s being paranoid, jokes with the person offering samples of cheese, and hears someone laugh from behind. When s/he turns around, someone is there from a past the character thought s/he’d left behind.
I wish you all a wonderful week. I have a few weeks yet till I move, but I’ll post pics soon.
xo Jen
Life is uncertainty. That's a given. (Get it?)
I returned from Nebraska after a brief but great visit with my father and step-mom, and I feel renewed. To be completely honest, I didn't feel so great before I left. I felt numb a lot of the time, going through the motions. Not depressed, not sad. Just not much of anything. I explained this to a few folks, and they said it was likely burnout. Judging from the fact that the trip helped so much, I think they were on to something. I came back to some tough news, potentially scary news, but instead of feeling panic and instead of feeling nothing, I just felt okay. Some time to write: that's the cure.
Below is a poem I wrote for and in honor of the Art Farm, a residency like no other. I recommend it to the hardest-core of hardcore writers (badasses only). Below that is some lit news and a short prompt. I wish you all a wonderful week.
BEING the FARM
We arrive, carry art on our backs or balance it on our heads
like books as we walk slow, sleepy circles in order to reach
the straight line time dances around, just ahead, and we
live in heat, for wind, with an ailing raccoon whose pupils
have narrowed with sunlight and the flies that clean their legs on our
swatters as they eye our compost—the mound of decay that gives life.
We work, painting walls, digging trenches, burying waste,
watching the leaking water with worried eyes and grubby
hands that, together, have raised a substantial roof; and we
wander, meeting those in town who know those
near town, who know those mothers and fathers of those
in surrounding towns, who know—all of them—Ed; therefore, us.
We live without time, find our way home, think back, send treasure maps,
reconnect and feel our roots pulling us back toward shared grounds where
Arctic winds, warmed by the reach to Nebraska, embrace and kiss corn
as we remember walking the silky rows, beneath an expanse of blue and above
dust and clay that is thrust up by truck wheels and embedded beneath our skin as we
wave each other on by, growing smaller in reflective mirrors but no less a part of the farm.
Here is a prompt based on my time at the Art Farm:
Write about excess. A character whose life is over-filled with stuff is forced to live without. How does s/he change? There is a lot of potential here to use humor.
Literary news: New fiction is forthcoming in Per Contra (read the current issue for some great work!) and elsewhere. More soon...
xo Jen
“Write while the heat is in you. … The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to burn a hole with.”
—Henry David Thoreau
I am in my last week at the Art Farm residency, and it's finally a nice, cool day. We had some days so humid they seemed to squeeze you like a lemon while multiplying the already-prevalent bugs and insects that seem to dive-bomb here.
I wanted to share a writing prompt because it seems something that could cross over to other aspects of life and, more, it seems to be my first no-fail method to get something meaningful on the page. Of course it is simple:
Sit down with computer or pen and pad and cellphone. Set the alarm for 10 minutes. Open an old piece (something in-progress or old; or, if you have nothing, read a short story and pick up where the writer left off, keep going with the characters). The prompt is only this: write for the full 10 minutes. Nonstop. Set the alarm and don't allow yourself to move or stop. Then, if on a roll, reset after the alarm sounds. Simple. Works miracles.
I'm up to page 60 on the new novel, and I attribute this largely to this method because, oddly, I can feel very busy at Art Farm and get distracted. I have had work here and an odd allergic reaction to something that has given me bad hives... all these things could be excuses, but no. I wrote. And I did not make it negotiable. Here are a few more images from Nebraska...
Back to the fun stuff for now... I visited Aurora for the first time yesterday and helped an artist friend set up at the farmer's market. There seems a dynamic community here, with a strong motorcycle culture, which is great for my character Rattle (who can plan these things?!).
Other interesting new facts about Nebraska:- There is a town called Worms, which contains a bar called Nightcrawlers and a church.
- Most of the corn around me is ethanol corn.
- It seems, everyone loves the Cornhuskers.
- North Platte has a rich history and a book about it, and I have met a lot of folks with colorful stories about it (too bad I won't get a chance to visit).
- Marilyn Monroe and butter is all over everything at LuLu's Steakhouse in Chapman, NE, where the chicken friend steak is as big as the plate and a single waitress runs the joint on a Saturday night.
- There is every type of tick known to man here.
- Raccoons should not be out in daylight.
Have a great week, and I wish you phenomenal weather where you are. 
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