Tips from writers in young adult, memoir, and satire — Even though I’ve lived in the Los Angeles area for over a decade now, and actually grew up here, I’ve never been to the L.A. Times Festival of Books. Part of that is just inertia: I’ve never liked driving to L.A., say. But I finally went this year, and I’m…

I’m a reluctant activist. Here’s how I found something that works for me. — I’m a reluctant activist. I’ve been to exactly one protest march, in the late 90s, when Matthew Shepherd was murdered. We were in New York. Policemen on horses corralled many of us into a narrow stretch of street between Grand Central Station and Madison…

It’s okay to love a thing. It’s better to love it when you see all its flaws. — (You can listen to me read this post to you here.) (Here’s the much-shorter TikTok version of this post. ) In the early 2000s, Lorelai Gilmore came roaring onto the small screen in a jeep, and comedy was never quite the same for me. A lot on the show I…

From micro-press to Big Five, there are more similarities than you think — Hello. I’m the author of three books, with a fourth in the works. (The third has a publication date, but isn’t out yet.) For my debut novel, I published with a press that only does one book a year. For my second book, a memoir chapbook (66 pages from end…

A no-fuss, intuitive way to take stock and map your priorities — Everyone! It’s almost the end of the year. It’s nearing that time when we arbitrarily decide we’re going to turn over a new leaf; start a new great habit. But so many of us embark on this process without once considering our baseline — where we’re starting from. I want…

Sometimes, we say things that are hurtful. Here’s what to say instead. — “That’s just crazy.” “How lame.” “I got gypped.” You may not know it yet, but these common idioms can be deeply hurtful for folks who suffer from mental health issues; folks who are disabled, and people of Romani descent, respectively. And yet, these phrases are common parlance in English. (We’ve…

“Meeting someone where they are” isn’t just a buzzphrase — Courtney and I have delivered diversity and inclusion workshops together to organizations ranging from higher education institutions to major video-game studios. I know a lot about Courtney. We text at least four days a week, about everything from dogs to whatever our lives are throwing at us. Courtney knows a…

I know better now — You can listen to the Soundcloud recording of this post here. I sometimes think of myself as a failed experiment. My parents hoped I’d be valedictorian of everything, but my college GPA was a dismal 3.2, and I’m convinced I…

While packing for a weekend away in a new-to-me location, I left behind my sketchbook. I wanted to see how I’d do if I only had my agenda to draw in or take notes with. I use a Hobonichi Techo with Tomoe River paper, which holds up a little…