So much curriculum writing this summer, right? Unfortunately, that doesn’t leave me much time for my actual fun, fiction writing. Fortunately, I am one of those strange people who loves writing curriculum. Good thing I’m in the education profession, right? After my first son was born, writing middle school language arts curriculum was my part-time, work-from-home job.
I had taken three full semesters off from the community college where I teach to deal with some health issues. (Public Service Announcement: Lyme disease is real and unpleasant. Always check for ticks after you spend time in a wooded area.) This upcoming semester I will be teaching EN101, online, as a seven-week course.
Teaching at a community college is equal parts difficult and rewarding. It’s rewarding to offer classes to the general community, those that aren’t necessarily college-bound, those that didn’t graduate with a high (or even decent) GPA.Those that can count the number of positive memories or academic success stories from high school on one hand. But that’s also the reason it can be difficult; often my students are juggling many other things outside my classroom. Jobs (some of them full-time). Families. Low income lives that have them in affordable housing many miles outside of town with cars that barely run and sometimes don’t start at all. In the seated classroom, regular attendance is difficult. Even with an online class, consistently meeting the demands of weekly deadlines can just be too much. It is typical in my EN101 classes to begin the semester with 25 students…and end up with 17 at the end of the semester.
Now I’ve been challenged to take my typical 15 week class and smush it down into a mere 7 weeks. And it’s not as easy as simply doubling up the workload. Writing is a process, takes time, has necessary steps. In my previous EN101 classes, the research essay took 4-5 weeks. And I needed every one of those steps, those individual deadlines to walk them through the process: choosing a topic, evaluating sources, creating a thesis, performing research, crafting a rough draft, working through revision, submitting a final draft. Currently I’m scratching my head at how that entire process can be condensed to 2-3 weeks.
In my 25 years of teaching, I have come to understand writing as a process so much more than simply a product. But grades and report cards and state standards and limited time force writing as a product to take precedence. I have fought it as much as I can in my own collegiate classroom, but in only seven weeks, I’m not sure how much space there is for any process at all. I fear my semester will be one of writing a draft, offering a quick revision and submitting a final draft.
That brings me back to the current moment: attempting to plan a 7-week EN101 course which is meaningful and engaging and doesn’t overwhelm my community college students to the point where most of them find they have no choice but to drop out.
So much curriculum writing this summer, right? Unfortunately, that doesn’t leave me much time for my actual fun, fiction writing. Fortunately, I am one of those strange people who loves writing curriculum. Good thing I’m in the education profession, right? After my first son was born, writing middle school language arts curriculum was my part-time, work-from-home job.
I had taken three full semesters off from the community college where I teach to deal with some health issues. (Public Service Announcement: Lyme disease is real and unpleasant. Always check for ticks after you spend time in a wooded area.) This upcoming semester I will be teaching EN101, online, as a seven-week course.
Teaching at a community college is equal parts difficult and rewarding. It’s rewarding to offer classes to the general community, those that aren’t necessarily college-bound, those that didn’t graduate with a high (or even decent) GPA.Those that can count the number of positive memories or academic success stories from high school on one hand. But that’s also the reason it can be difficult; often my students are juggling many other things outside my classroom. Jobs (some of them full-time). Families. Low income lives that have them in affordable housing many miles outside of town with cars that barely run and sometimes don’t start at all. In the seated classroom, regular attendance is difficult. Even with an online class, consistently meeting the demands of weekly deadlines can just be too much. It is typical in my EN101 classes to begin the semester with 25 students…and end up with 17 at the end of the semester.
Now I’ve been challenged to take my typical 15 week class and smush it down into a mere 7 weeks. And it’s not as easy as simply doubling up the workload. Writing is a process, takes time, has necessary steps. In my previous EN101 classes, the research essay took 4-5 weeks. And I needed every one of those steps, those individual deadlines to walk them through the process: choosing a topic, evaluating sources, creating a thesis, performing research, crafting a rough draft, working through revision, submitting a final draft. Currently I’m scratching my head at how that entire process can be condensed to 2-3 weeks.
In my 25 years of teaching, I have come to understand writing as a process so much more than simply a product. But grades and report cards and state standards and limited time force writing as a product to take precedence. I have fought it as much as I can in my own collegiate classroom, but in only seven weeks, I’m not sure how much space there is for any process at all. I fear my semester will be one of writing a draft, offering a quick revision and submitting a final draft.
That brings me back to the current moment: attempting to plan a 7-week EN101 course which is meaningful and engaging and doesn’t overwhelm my community college students to the point where most of them find they have no choice but to drop out.
What happens when you’ve reached all your earthly goals and you’re only twenty-eight years old?
What if you’ve realized the American Dream, and although you’re pretty confident it’s all a big blessing from Jesus, you still feel miserably lacking in purpose and fulfillment?
What makes a reasonably well-off American Christian family walk away from their perfectly scripted life—prestigious careers, dream home, lake house, nice cars, kids’ sports, frequent travel, perfect church, tons of family and friends—and follow God to the ends of the earth? How would any young family have the courage to leave all the things the world tells us to strive for and instead choose a life of intentional simplifying, serial downsizing, and two major moves overseas?
Cindy’s memoir chronicles their family’s unorthodox Christian journey that began as a result of praying in earnest: “Lord, help us to live what we say we believe.” Follow along as the DeBoers, a typical average suburban family, finds the courage to subvert a safe and comfortable life for a risky and riotous ride that led them to far, far better things.
I met Cindy for coffee back in late fall of 2024 when I was trying to figure out how to launch my life as an author. Someone I had been working with in the writing/publishing world connected us two, believing we had quite a bit in common. What an understatement. Cindy and I only planned on having coffee and meeting each other for an hour, but our conversation lasted far longer and extended to the point where we both apologized that we had to leave.
Cindy has an amazing story that most of us only dream of; she and her husband sold everything and moved their entire family to Morocco, believing they were called to do more in this life than simply live the American dream of amassing wealth and status. (Side note: I won’t even change peanut butter brands in my home because I’m afraid of rocking my kids’ world too much. So there’s that.)
Fair warning to all of you readers: this book makes you think. Cindy writes about things that haunt all of us, such as “elusive perfection–always reaching for something that’s just outside my reach.” You’ll empathize with her tiredness. “So very tired of trying to get everything right. I just wish I knew how to let it go.” While most of us can’t imagine actually acting upon that feeling, she does, and–spoiler alerts–finds it’s the best, most rewarding, life-changing decision she’s ever made.
Multiple agents told Cindy that she has a beautiful story that must be told…but it is rare that agents take risks on memoirs written by little known authors. Hollywood stars can have their life story written by a ghost writer and will publish millions of copies (I’m looking at you, Savannah Guthrie). But a religious woman from the midwest who has 1,000 Facebook friends? They passed on her, every time. So she did the brave thing and self-published.
If you enjoy her memoir, help her out and pass the good word far and wide. Or, even better, buy a few extra copies to distribute and help launch this midwestern mom and her important story.
Beverly Underwood and her arch enemy, Lula Dean, live in the tiny town of Troy, Georgia, where they were born and raised. Now Beverly is on the school board, and Lula has become a local celebrity by embarking on a mission to rid the public libraries of all inappropriate books—none of which she’s actually read. To replace the “pornographic” books she’s challenged at the local public library, Lula starts her own lending library in front of her home: a cute wooden hutch with glass doors and neat rows of the worthy literature that she’s sure the town’s readers need.
But Beverly’s daughter Lindsay sneaks in by night and secretly fills Lula Dean’s little free library with banned books wrapped in “wholesome” dust jackets. The Girl’s Guide to the Revolution is wrapped in the cover of The Southern Belle’s Guide to Etiquette. A jacket that belongs to Our Confederate Heroes ends up on Beloved. One by one, neighbors who borrow books from Lula Dean’s library find their lives changed in unexpected ways. Finally, one of Lula Dean’s enemies discovers the library and decides to turn the tables on her, just as Lula and Beverly are running against each other to replace the town’s disgraced mayor.
That’s when all the townspeople who’ve been borrowing from Lula’s library begin to reveal themselves. It’s a diverse and surprising bunch—including the local postman, the prom queen, housewives, a farmer, and the former DA—all of whom have been changed by what they’ve read. When Lindsay is forced to own up to what she’s done, the showdown that’s been brewing between Beverly and Lula will roil the whole town…and change it forever.
Wow. Talk about life imitating fiction. I had just posted my own short story about a community banning books–which was based on a library in my community facing a similar situation–when I received an email from my library letting me know this book was on hold. Honestly, I don’t even remember placing it on hold or where I saw the book in the first place.
This story is an all-true tale of the war we are currently waging against those who are afraid and want to ban open-mindedness and discussion, and those who believe it is the very definition of freedom. It’s a story of fitting in, feeling left out, of those who want power they will do just about anything to get it, and those who live in fear each and every day.
If you side with Lula Dean, then this book is most likely not for you. But if you find yourself snickering with Lindsay when she swaps the books under the book covers, and you find yourself cheering for Beverly and all those who allow their mindsets to be changed (and freed) by what they read, then go ahead and place this book on hold. Or better yet, buy a copy and pass it on to other friends when you are done.
2. Three Days in June
Author: Anne Tyler
Length: 176 pages
Publication: Feb 2025
Genre: fiction
Audience: adult
SUMMARY:
Gail Baines is having a bad day. To start, she loses her job—or quits, depending on whom you ask. Tomorrow her daughter, Debbie, is getting married, and she hasn’t even been invited to the spa day organized by the mother of the groom. Then, Gail’s ex-husband, Max, arrives unannounced on her doorstep, carrying a cat, without a place to stay, and without even a suit.
But the true crisis lands when Debbie shares with her parents a secret she has just learned about her husband to be. It will not only throw the wedding into question but also stir up Gail and Max’s past.
I ended up purchasing this book because I wasn’t going to get a library copy before I left on vacation, and as library books make me unnaturally nervous (losing one goes on your permanent record, you know), I felt much more comfortable taking a book I own on a two-week vacation to Europe.
While it packed light (even for being a hardcover), I was a bit disappointed to find it was only 178 pages long. What? It should be clearly labeled as a novella and not a full-fledged novel. Due to its short length and my world’s longest layover (7.5 hours!), I was able to read the entire story in one day. My initial concern is that I would have nothing to read in Europe, but as it turned out, I read exactly zero pages in Europe. Between the busyness of the days and the difference in time zones, my brain did not have the energy to read the entire time I was there. (The other book I brought about Lisbon I began reading on my marathon layover–8.5 hours–on the way home).
While it was short, Anne Tyler wrote a lovely story. The plot is nothing complicated–her daughter is getting married and her ex-husband unexpectedly has to stay at her house–but Tyler doesn’t drive up the drama or make it anything it shouldn’t be. There are many emotions involved with weddings, but at no point does Tyler make it into a soap opera. The entire novel is read in a quiet to medium voice.
If you are looking for a quick, simple read, this is an absolute thumbs-up from me.
3. Two Nights in Lisbon
Author: Chris Pavone
Length: 448 pages
Publication: May 2022
Genre: mystery
Audience: adult
SUMMARY:
You think you know a person . . .
Ariel Pryce wakes up in Lisbon, alone. Her husband is gone―no warning, no note, not answering his phone. Something is wrong.
She starts with hotel security, then the police, then the American embassy, at each confronting questions she can’t fully answer: What exactly is John doing in Lisbon? Why would he drag her along on his business trip? Who would want to harm him? And why does Ariel know so little about her new―much younger―husband?
The clock is ticking. Ariel is increasingly frustrated and desperate, running out of time, and the one person in the world who can help is the one person she least wants to ask.
I purchased this book earlier in the summer as I planned on reading it while my family vacationed in Portugal. However, our jam-packed days and my exhausted brain in the evening led me to read exactly zero pages while I was there. I was disappointed, as I love to read novels based in my location when I travel, but I was excited to begin reading it when I arrived home. (I did see this book when I visited Livraria Bertrand, the oldest bookstore in the world which just so happened to be located in Lisbon. So fun!)
It took me longer than I anticipated to finish this book, especially since it was an engaging mystery. Jet lag and the immediacy of duties and responsibilities once I arrived home post-vacation left me little time to read. So I was glad the plot was engaging; I picked it up and read a few chapters with every free moment I had.
As I have mentioned before, I am not a huge fan of mysteries, often because I am so critical of them (which is probably why I will never write one myself). This one paced well and left me hanging until the end of the book. Skim readers beware: there are a number of names of different individuals involved in attempting to solve this mystery, so a cheat sheet of names and roles might be helpful. If I had one criticism of the novel, it was that the epilogue was too full of information and explanation that I wished had been scattered a little more through the plot so that we could have sown the benefits ourselves instead of having all of it simply handed to us.
This mystery gave me the vibes of John Grisham or James Patterson, but I would recommend this novel to anyone. AND if you’ve been to Lisbon (like I now have), there are a few great references to localities that you might be able to place in your mind. Even better.
4. Sandwich
Author: Catherine Newman
Length: 221 pages
Publication: June 2024
Genre: fiction
Audience: adult (language and topics)
SUMMARY:
For the past two decades, Rocky has looked forward to her family’s yearly escape to Cape Cod. Their humble beach-town rental has been the site of sweet memories, sunny days, great meals, and messes of all kinds: emotional, marital, and—thanks to the cottage’s ancient plumbing—septic too.
This year’s vacation, with Rocky sandwiched between her half-grown kids and fully aging parents, promises to be just as delightful as summers past—except, perhaps, for Rocky’s hormonal bouts of rage and melancholy. (Hello, menopause!) Her body is changing—her life is, too. And then a chain of events sends Rocky into the past, reliving both the tenderness and sorrow of a handful of long-ago summers.
It’s one precious week: everything is in balance; everything is in flux. And when Rocky comes face to face with her family’s history and future, she is forced to accept that she can no longer hide her secrets from the people she loves.
Good news: this might go into my top-10 favorite read of all times.
Bad news: this book is geared toward a very narrow crowd. I’m specifically looking at you, middle-aged women. Those of us who might be raising late-teen to early-adult children, who simultaneously love them at their current age and desperately want a tiny body to snuggle.
Sandwich is a simple story told in Cape Cod, Massachusetts at the same weekly rental cottage where this family has vacationed for decades. It holds all the memories, the traditions. And the narrator, a 54-year-old woman, is caught in complexities of her own age and her family’s stage of life.
The first paragraphs of the first chapter captivated me and never let up. There’s an overflowing toilet in the rental cottage, adult kids calling from outside the door, “I can smell it! It stinks!” and a quick moment to note how his biceps look sexy in his t-shirt as he plunges.
I empathized with Rocky for almost the entire book. The dynamics of raising adult children, of loving their independence and wanting to smother sunscreen on them. Waking up every day puzzled by changes to her body and why no one explained those things might happen. Of finding that decisions she made earlier in her life only dig a deeper groove of regret into her brain.
It’s a story of family, of making sandwiches for the beach, of trying to understand your kids as adults, of becoming comfortable with your body and your age and who you were and who you want to be. Of daily recommitting to love your spouse, even though neither of you are anywhere close to the naive kids who pledge to love each other eternally.
This book is about the messiness of life, but it particularly resonates with the mid-40s to mid-50s female. As one character summed it up perfectly, “It’s so crushingly beautiful, being human.”
I will offer a fair “heads up” to those who choose to read this book: Newman is real and honest in her portrayal of Rocky, the matriarch and narrator of this story. She uses language and raw, vivid physical descriptions. If you are a squeamish reader when it comes to either of those, I might steer you clear of this book.
But for all my midlife friends out there who need a deep self-reflection into their soul, this one’s for you.
This month I want to offer a bit of a challenge, and perhaps a break from the typical reflective journal writing. Many of us do not claim to be poetry writers, either because we do not love reading poetry or we admit that writing poetry feels to difficult and “scares” us.
But I’m going to make it easy today to write a poem about summer. Begin by creating a brainstorming list of ways your senses experience summer (colors, sounds, sights, textures, etc.). Write as many ideas as you can.
If you’re ready to begin writing or typing those ideas into order, be my guest! If you want to turn this into a fun, experimental activity, write each idea from your brain storm list on a small slip of paper. Then find a large enough area to spread all of the ideas out and begin arranging them in order. Feel free to move ideas around or combining them.
Below I’ve offered three mentor poems for your inspiration.
1. Warm Summer Sun
by Mark Twain
Warm summer sun, Shine kindly here, Warm southern wind, Blow softly here. Green sod above, Lie light, lie light. Good night, dear heart, Good night, good night.
2. Midsummer, Tobago
by Derek Walcott
Broad sun-stoned beaches.
White heat. A green river.
A bridge, scorched yellow palms
from the summer-sleeping house drowsing through August.
Days I have held, days I have lost,
days that outgrow, like daughters, my harbouring arms.
3. A Recipe for Summer
by Mary Dow Brine
What is summer made of? Of opening buds and flowers; Of sunshine and of shadow, And gracious little showers, Of birds that in the tree-tops Sing sweetly all the day; Of buttercups and daisies, And breath of new-mown hay. Of butterflies that hover O’er every fragrant rose; Of bees that gather honey Where the honeysuckle grows. Of brooks that murmur softly, And thro’ the meadows glide: Of shadows shifting gently Adown the mountain-side. Of rainbows after showers, Of starlight nights so still; Of moonbeams shimmering softly O’er every brook and rill. Of mornings dawning sweetly O’er dew-wet grass and flowers, Oh! Summer time is only A life of golden hours!
Story Starter:
“I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream! July 1 marks National Creative Ice Cream Flavors Day as a day to sample or wonder about the odd combinations of ice cream flavors. The greatest thing about ice cream flavors is we have so many to choose from. Chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, or cherry to name a few. The great thing about creative ice cream flavors is if you can imagine it, you can achieve it.”
“The crowd was so thick around the store window she couldn’t see, so she pushed her way through until she saw the sign that caused all of the commotion: ‘Announcing! The world’s greatest ice cream competition.’ “
Feathers
by Micah W. (age 5)
Feathers, feathers everywhere.
Jumping
Flying
In the air.
At Bat
by Micah W. (age 5)
(inspired by a particularly tough turn batting in this week’s TBall game)
After graduating from college, I applied to 22 teaching jobs before finally landing one—at a juvenile detention facility. It was already October, my husband had just started grad school full-time, and we had no income to pay bills or buy groceries. I was desperate.
The rejections were tough. I took each one personally, even though I knew not all of them had to do with my qualifications. Still, rejection stings.
Fast forward twenty-five years, and I find myself in a similar place—putting my work out there and hoping someone says yes. These days, it’s not job applications but query letters. Every week, I send out ten or more, searching for that one literary agent willing to champion this first-time author and her manuscript.
Let me tell you—querying isn’t for the faint of heart. Thankfully, my time spent at Queens earning my MFA helped me develop thick skin in terms of receiving feedback related to my writing. Well-meaning, highly-qualified professors would give honest and necessary feedback in order to help me develop my writing and grow as a writer.
After graduation, I was accepted into the Book Development Program and paired with editor Alexa Pastor from Simon & Schuster. In our first Zoom session, she said, “I absolutely love your character Lily.” My heart soared. As my head began to swell and I envisioned book signings and public speaking events around the globe. Then came the follow-up: “I hate her story.”
Oof.
But instead of giving up, I rewrote the entire novel over the next six months. With Alexa’s guidance, Lily’s story transformed—and so did I.
Which brings me to today. Desperately seeking a literary agent and one of countless fish in the literary pond. And, because I’m casting my net wide, I’m also receiving rejections, almost daily. Some are generic and kind: “Thank you for submitting your manuscript. Unfortunately, at this time we are unable to offer you literary representation. It is not a reflection of your work and we hope you the best in your continued search.” Others have been a little more critical: “Our interest was piqued in your query letter; however, your early pages underwhelmed us.”
But I’m not alone.
A quick Google search reveals I’m in good company:
Lisa Genova’s Still Alice: 100+ rejections
Kathryn Stockett’s The Help: 60 rejections
Stephen King’s Carrie: 30 rejections
Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time: 26 rejections
John Grisham, A Time to Kill: 28 rejections
Dr. Seuss, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street: 27 rejections
Joseph Heller, Catch-22: 22 rejections
William Golding, Lord of the Flies: 21 rejections
Anne Frank, The Diary of Anne Frank: 15 rejections
Chicken Soup for the Soul: 144 rejections
So, how do I handle all the “no’s”? I try to see each one as a step closer to the “yes.” I’m trying to rise above it and not take it personally. I remind myself that I’m filtering out the agents who aren’t a good fit, making space for the one who is.
A friend asked how my querying was going, and so I was honest about the emotional rollercoaster of receiving a rejection and needing to carry on and keep the faith. She directed me to this quote by Stephen King:
“By the time I was fourteen the nail in my wall would no longer support the weight of the rejection slips impaled upon it. I replaced the nail with a spike and went on writing.” — Stephen King, On Writing
That gave me an idea. I grabbed a mason jar, stuffed it with a few dollar bills, and christened it my “Not Yet” jar. For every rejection, I add a dollar. One day, that jar will buy me something fun. If I get accepted tomorrow, maybe it’s a coffee and scone. If it takes 100 rejections, maybe it’s a first-class ticket to somewhere beautiful.
Right now, the jar sits on our kitchen counter. Sometimes I catch my daughter emptying it out to count the money. And honestly? I love that. I love that my kids see me staying hopeful, embracing rejection, and keeping the faith that “not yet” is just one step away from “yes.”
