Anna Be.

This is what my dining room table looked like for about a week. Then the book stack doubled (how did that happen???), and I finally cleared it all off. Nick thinks I'm weird for using the dining table as an office when I have an actual office upstairs. I'm proud to say my real office is finally decluttered and unpacked enough to be in usable condition! And the family room upstairs is pretty well decked out with kid activities, so Mamie is occupied when I do want to work in my office. Now I am trying to gradually reduce the amount of stuff I have permanently parked on the table. However, I'm leaving up the decorations from our birthdays in September because it's still cute that Mamie comes in here saying "Party!" (Yes, I said "in here" because I'm writing this post at the dining room table. Gradual. Transition.)

Today I'm am only reading two books! Last week, however, I read 11 death-themed books in three days (for an upcoming article). That was definitely daunting. Nick and I had also been watching 2-3 episodes of The Wire every night. That kind of immersion really sets your mood. But anyway, what am I reading today? 1.  So You've Been Publicly Shamed Hang on a minute, I have to go read everything Jon Ronson has written. 2. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Book Proposals & Query Letters I'm not ashamed to admit I'm a fan of this series. I start out an idiot on most subjects before I become the genius you know and love. I've read a whole pile of books about book proposals in the last few weeks, planning to be an expert soon.

September 5 It was also a weird feeling that time Mamie and I shared screen space with Anna Faris and Chris Pratt. No, I'm not paranoid, except that I might be. I'm adjusting to a strange shift in my new writing career wherein thousands of people are looking at what I write. Specifically, I am referring to an essay I wrote for Cosmo about Mamie's name this week:  I Love My Kid's Unusual Name . As I write this, less than 48 hours after it went live, the article has had 94,000 views. That's not viral, but it's getting more attention than anything else I've ever written.  I have my theories about why: people want to know the name so they click; people love to talk about their own names. That's totally rational, and it does not make me break out into a sweat right now.  However, when I saw the views surging into the tens of thousands overnight, I did break out into a sweat, fear for the safety of my family, and question my selfish ambition! St...

On March 30, I declared my determination to finally get my office unpacked and organized .  Two months later, this is what it looks like: Right. So, really, what is it going to take to make some progress here?  I had to think about what is blocking the process. Entry to the room is literally blocked by bags of baby clothes and newborn things that need to be stored in the attic. Cluttered workspaces bloc all the sewing and writing I want to do in there. Feeling overwhelmed by the clutter is blocking me from getting any of it under control.  I can work for 15 minutes here and there, but it hasn't amounted to anything that gives me a sense of accomplishment or freedom. Today, just to get myself to spend 15 minutes in there, I started brainstorming the essential elements of what needs to be done. Inspiration  -- I'm going old school and making a vision board.  I think if I just had a visual reminder of what I want this room to be, I wi...

The other day one of my favorite English teacher-poet-coworkers and I were having a conversation about how Kafka wrote The Judgement in one long, intense session. I am, in fact, fascinated by the work habits of writers. For example, Hemingway started his work early every morning, standing up at a typewriter. It takes a special discipline to direct yourself to write regularly everyday. I had no problem with it when it was my job, and I had publication deadlines. On my own, however, I could do 36 loads of laundry and dishes before I forced myself to write a sentence. But this conversation about Kafka kind of inspired me to try such an intense session, to see what would bleed out onto the screen. Masterpieces happen, right? I could have the occassional intensive creative days/weekends when I shut myself up in my office, only coming out for coffee refills and bathroom breaks, while Nick pushes my food under the door. Why not? My slacker job has so many days-off built in. At worst, ...