About Me

Atlanta, Georgia, United States
My first book, "Invisible Sisters: A Memoir" has been named one of "Twenty Five Books All Georgians Should Read!" I would love to visit your bookclub, either in person (in the South) or through the magic of electronics. My writing has received a "Special Mention" for a 2008 Pushcart Prize. I have been honored with a residency at the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation in Bethany, CT., a Fellowship at the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts in Rabun Gap, Georgia, and the 2009 Peter Taylor Nonfiction Fellowship at the Kenyon Review Writers Workshop. Locally, I teach workshops in creative writing, memoir, and feature journalism, and am a member of the faculty of an art college, where I teach screenwriting. I hold an MFA in Creative Writing from Queens University of Charlotte (N.C.) and a B.S. in Communication from Emerson College, in Boston. I used to work in television. I did not push the broom behind the elephant. Usually, I served as mahout - I drove the (allegorical) elephant. If he was SAG or AFTRA. Rock stars do not scare me.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Deadlines go around and around


If you could only see my desk. The piles are mountainous. I can see part of the window. I can also see part of the door.

Deadlines. As Ann Lamott famously wrote, take each one "bird by bird."

What? You're a writer and you don't know "Bird by Bird ?"

Your assignment for today is to get a copy and read it.

4 comments:

Susan Woodring said...

I LOVE this assignment.:)

jessicahandler said...

I still go back to that book periodically for a jolt of clarity.

Collin Kelley said...

I treasure my autographed copy of Bird by Bird.

jessicahandler said...

where'd you get it autographed? Lucky you!