In early spring of 2009, my friend Stacey Graham mentioned an idea she had for a new humor blog. Our group of friends continuously amused each other, so why not spread that joy throughout the internet via essays written in the spirit of Erma Bombeck? Thus was born An Army of Ermas. Our ranks have …
writing / editing
Nitpicking
I love to pick at things. I won’t disgust you with the details, but if my fingernail can pry it loose, you can bet I’m going to try. I also apply this obsessiveness to theories, plots, and pretty much any story that a person can invent. I often have to warn people that I play …
Odds & Ends
Hi there. I thought I’d use today’s post to catch you all up on what’s been going on with me. Ready? Okay! ********** I LOVE my apartment. Love. The paint, the layout, the trees outside my balcony… it’s all wonderful. Owen’s adapted well and I’ve made several friends through him and the dog park. The …
Summer ‘ku
Thoughts from a late night perusing friends’ friends lists and other posts on Facebook… Freakfest on Facebook. Spray tans + protein, oh why did I give you up? … My long-ago crush has a toddler named Owen. The universe speaks! … Oh vague status posts… If only you intrigued me as your poster planned. … …
It’s a Start
Thanks for your encouragement last week. I’m proud to say I finally sat down and wrote TWO WHOLE PAGES. For me, that’s the hardest part because the first couple pages set the tone for the entire novel and that’s the only time I truly struggle to write. Once I get into the flow of writing …
Me and OCD
I joke so often about my OCD tendencies that I forget a lot of people probably don’t realize this about me. If you know me at all you’ve probably picked up on some of my quirks, but I’m always surprised when a friend discovers just how ingrained these compulsions are. Some background: I’ve always been …
Grab a Glass…
… because I’m about to start whining. It occurred to me over the weekend that it’s been SIX MONTHS since I started a new project. I spent two months writing Flicker, then another month and a half editing, and since then… well… let’s just say I haven’t been writing. Yes, I outlined books two and …
A Crossroads
I have a confession to make: I still haven’t started the second book in my trilogy. I started my outline a couple weeks ago, then events in my life made me stall on the idea, then I read a couple timely blog posts from agents saying that writing additional books in a series before selling …
Writerly Spackle
Yesterday I tackled the first of several projects I’ve planned before moving into my new place. My grandmother gave me an ornate mirror years ago, and the genius that was me at twenty-five decided it’d be a good idea to paint it silver. Yeah. The glass broke while it was in storage, so before having …
The Name Game
As Juliet said, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet.” Yet we writers place a lot of importance on names. Hours of research can go into finding the name that perfectly captures the time period, ethnicity, class, religion… you get the idea. The general …