Life from a Rotting Log
What can a swamp-soaked piece of wood teach us about resilience? Between 40 bug bites and a sinus infection, here is why feeling unproductive is sometimes the first step to growing something beautiful.
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The Tides of Writing
Last week, my mother-in-law came to town and treated my little family to a beach vacation in Myrtle Beach. We spent plenty of time enjoying the waves, but my favorite moments happened when I got my kayak and camera out. After doing some research, I quickly identified a salt marsh where I could paddle around…
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Bass the Putter: The Infinite Loop of Creative Irony
Do you ever mix up the sounds and letters in words while you’re talking? Because I do. And it feels like I do it a lot. It’s actually become a running joke in my inner circles because I also write a lot, and words are my thing. You know? Indiana Jones has a hat, Popeye…
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C’est la Vie: A Writer’s Perspective
There are about seven hundred sixty-two moments a day where I stop and think, “hey, that would make a good blog. I should write about it.” Of course, seven hundred sixty of them get fizzled out within a minute or two, but a couple remain by the end of the day. Lately, I take those…
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Writing Through the Chaos
Worry not! I’m still alive. 😉 Words are getting written, too. It’s been a massive adjustment over the last six months—starting a job teaching, moving to South Carolina, raising my little baby boy. It adds up. Life gets busy. Fortunately, I feel like writing has already become a core piece of who I am. Even…
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Quetzalcoatl: The Aztec Myth That Inspires My Writing
The Aztec Lore that Found Its Way Into my Novels Snakes are already fearsome. Add wings, and they become nightmare fuel. Imagine not just watching one slither toward you, but seeing it descend from the sky. This is the image carried in Aztec mythology of the feathered serpent, Quetzalcoatl. More than scales and feathers, it…
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My Last Daily Post
Today marks my 48th daily weekday post in a row—and it’s my last. It has been a good run, and I’ve enjoyed the challenge, but it’s time to pivot. Instead of writing a post every weekday, I’m going to be spending more time on editing, crafting, and researching a single weekly post every Wednesday. I’ve…
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When Teaching Means Stepping In
I broke up my first fight today. It’s a new quarter, and as an electives teacher, I got all new students. Across my five class periods, I was happy to find that each class was better behaved and more attentive than last quarter’s—that was until my final class of the day. I still think they’re…
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Grotesque Protectors
Spiders. So many spiders. That’s one of the things I’ve had to get comfortable with around my home here in South Carolina. They stay outside for the most part, but there are always two or three sitting on webs around each doorway. Part of me wants to go out there with a hose and clean…
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My First Quarter Teaching
Four or five months ago, my life underwent a surprisingly drastic change. I knew I was about to become a father, but I didn’t know I’d be moving to South Carolina and teaching at a middle school. Rewind to a year ago, and I didn’t even know I wanted to be a teacher. In fact,…
