I told my dermatologist I had blackheads. I didn’t know what the deal was. Was it my medicine? My moisturizer? Where were these disgusting things coming from? After examining my face, he said, “You don’t have blackheads. You just have normal acne. Sometimes they look like blackheads, but that’s not…

I tell myself it started with Lauren on December 11, 2018, but the reality is: it started sooner than that. I suppose it was just her death that threw me against a wall and left me there to bleed. It started in March 2017 when my cousin Chris died of…

Match.com, the online dating site, recently featured the funniest commercial I’ve seen in a really long time. Satan gets a “match” with a woman named 2020. They go on a date, and it’s love at first sight. They steal toilet paper, have a picnic in an empty football stadium, and…

How do you know if your writing is good? How do you know if what you’ve created actually matters? How do you know if people will want to read your story? That’s the struggle for every writer, I think. …

I sit on the balcony of the twelfth story, where I can hear the waves crash onto the shore. The sun is in a good mood, shining brightly. My chair is comfortable and ergonomic, and my table is just the right height. My laptop is open, and my coffee cup…

I was told I couldn’t write my research paper on my grandpa because I didn’t have enough sources to cite. In other words, he wasn’t a well-known figure. I was accused of plagiarism when submitting an essay for my school’s yearbook because “it was written too well” to be mine. …

I’m sorry. I’m sorry I cried on the sofa at midnight. At the booth in my favorite restaurant. In the parked car on a bright day. In the arms of loved ones. In my bed alone. I’m sorry I shed tears for you. And you too. For the things you have said. For…

You’ve inevitably seen the “What is your why?” articles or calls to action if you’re a writer, yes? I love those! There must be a why in your life: Why did you become a writer? Why did you choose science fiction? Why did you start with this particular plot? …

If you’ve published a book, do you remember what it felt like to hold it in your hands for the very first time? My BFF, Janey Merry, wrote a children’s picture book about a sloth who is tired of being the slowest one in school. I’m trying to help her…