Spring update (2018)

My coworker correctly diagnosed me with a serious case of “life interruptus” recently. I accept her expert opinion. Since my last update, there have been a few developments on the writing front, but many more developments in all other directions.

January saw a poem of mine published online and in print in Haiku Journal #56. A few months later, another poem of mine appeared in the Spring 2018 issue of Teach.Write. Links to both can be found under the POETRY tab on this website.

I am still querying for my completed YA novel. I am sure anyone who has experience querying would agree that this stage is all about patience and confidence, but it is sometimes hard to have either. There have been many quiet mornings and late nights when, if I did not have faith in this novel, I would have been tempted to throw in the towel. But I believe in this novel. It is something that needs to be out there. It is something I want to hand out to my students for free, I believe in it that much. So I’ll keep on until I can grab someone’s attention and find representation.

In non-writing life… hoo boy.

• My wife is coming along; she’s shaped like a capital ‘D.’ We have the baby’s room all ready to go and we know that we are in the home stretch. His due date is May 27^th, but it turns out that a due date is just a suggestion. We’re going to try to be ready for him any time in May (which means I need to pack my “go bag”).
• I was honored at a wonderful banquet in March where I was recognized as Teacher of the Year for my school; I was presented with a golden apple, which made me feel very much like a Norse god.
• In less joyous news, my dad has been pretty sick. Knowing that he would not like me divulging all his personal business to internet strangers, I will just say: I’m thankful that we caught it before it was too late; I’m thankful he’ll get to meet his grandson soon; and my dad’s not old enough to be old yet, which is reason enough to hope for a full recovery after he makes it through the crucible of chemo.

We are now just two months away from the end of the school year, and I know that somewhere in there my baby boy will be showing up. Words cannot describe how excited I am to hold him! In the meantime, I am researching my next big writing project. It keeps me up at night—in the good way!