Do you dread certain tasks because they seem so…mindless? Rote. The kind of work we call unskilled labor. In college, a friend convinced a bunch of us to fold boxes for some company. I realized then that I might have missed my calling as a factory worker. I thought of that again when I recently […]
Already, I’m letting this blog down. It’s been too long since I’ve written. Well, I’ve been writing, and that’s the good news, just not here. What’s been happening? I’m working on a novel. My second, so you’d think it would be easier, right? Nope. Now I know all my weaknesses and found some new ones. […]
There’s a meme going around social media: what advice would you give your younger self. I’m not sure what it’s intended to do. Make you feel better about where you’ve ended up? Or feel worse? My 20- and 30-something self would be amazed. I never contemplated where my life would take me. I’ve had the […]
You’ve heard about driveway moments—you’re in the car, listening to a really good radio program but have arrived home, so you sit in the driveway to listen to the rest before going inside. My driveway moments happen without a car. Each morning, I like to step out onto my driveway and greet the day. One […]
I haven’t had much time to reflect on my new life, here in western Massachusetts. There’s been no lack in appreciation. Even on hot days like today, I love the smell of the summer grass. After a thunderstorm, I love how the air cools down. My mother used to always mention that when I was […]
“White people in this country will have quite enough to do in learning how to accept and love themselves and each other, and when they have achieved this—which will not be tomorrow and may very well be never—the Negro problem will no longer exist, for it will no longer be needed.” —James Baldwin […]
As a way to avoid news about the Orange Oracle of Obfuscation in the White House, I’ve been watching reruns of Ellen. The sitcom, not the talk show. This is a 20-year-old show that makes me laugh out loud every morning. April will be the 20th anniversary of Ellen DeGeneres’s coming out on the cover […]
December 2017 update: I’m thrilled to announce I won a Rainbow Award (co-winner with the anthology Haunting Muses, which I have a story in)! I meant to post this a couple of months ago, but got distracted. It’s late for a launch announcement, but in time for the gift-buying season! In September, all my […]
A piece last fall in Time magazine about the movie The Danish Girl inspired this post (I’m a bit behind). In particular this line, “Stories about transgender people have been received rapturously over the past two years…” And, “But when the script first landed in [Director Tom] Hooper’s lap back in 2008, he says, it […]
To celebrate the release of Finding Ms. Write, the new anthology out from Ylva, I’m taking part in a “blog tour” and giveaway (check below for how to win a copy!). For my part, I thought I’d reminisce a bit. My second job after college was in a bookstore. The first was a pet store, […]
Elaine Burnes 