Giving birth in Portugal, Part I Somewhere along the way, in my early twenties, I became terrified of giving birth. I heard too many stories of things going wrong. …

The list I wish someone had sent me The amount of information available to expecting and new moms is mind-boggling. Not only do you already have your hands full growing a little human, and then adjusting to your new life where a little person depends on you completely, but if you’re anything like me, you’re left with a…

Exercises from Chapter 1 “the sound of your writing” In January 2018, a writer friend and I decided to have a call every two weeks to work on our writing, providing feedback and acting as accountability partners to each other. We started with Ursula Le Guin’s incredible book “Steering the…

“How to write about twilight in a world of 140 characters” — Author’s note: This writing exercise was carried out in January, but seemed fitting to share now that we all have a bit more time to reflect. It has never been easier to get your words out into the world. From personal blogs and self-publishing platforms, and in a virtual reality…

Because failure is merely an opportunity to learn disguised as a setback This is my third year participating in the National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo. For the past two years, it was fun, and relatively painless to bang out 50,000 words in 30 days. …

A hiking adventure gone wrong (or so right?) — The three of us sat on the uneven ground, rocks and roughage digging into my thighs. Jean was on the phone, smiling and nodding like everything was going according to plan. When she hung up, she didn’t say anything — or maybe I was just in a rush to know…

Because sometimes, the little things matter — The day started like any other, but it wasn’t quite a day like any other — I was invited to a party! The Easter Party On this particular occasion, I hitched a ride with my godfather. I was excited to go to this Easter Party, even though the hostess (I’ll…

And what other writing challenges can unlock in you. — Last year, I participated in the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo for those who are “in the know”) for the second time. I made it to the end, and claimed my victory. Or did I? In 2017, I wrote the first draft of a YA fantasy novel. It felt revolutionary…

Because writers aren’t always very good at following the rules — A year ago, I took the plunge and participated in my first ever National Novel Writing Month — NaNoWriMo for short — writing challenge. …