It’s easy, when away at a residency, to focus on all the ways that the residency is not your real life, the sentiment being that you are distraction-free, away from all the things that stop or stifle your creative freedom.

Even though summer is not officially over until like September 22nd, when the young people head back to school and everyone starts freaking out about the end of the year, you know summer is over. Three words that capture my summer are: Hot. Fast. Love.

I have plans, as I do every summer, to take time away from the socials and never-ending emails to make headway on my own projects, get some rest, and catch up on my reading. But before I put my out of office on and disable my social media apps, I have some exciting news to share

I’m so thankful for love I’ve been getting from my home state of Wisconsin! If you ain’t know, I am from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, born and raised. I left Milwaukee after graduating…

I’ve been thinking about Elizabeth Gilbert’s TED talk, “Your Elusive Creative Genius” as I’ve been writing (and NOT writing). Feeling stuck or hesitating or stalling or whatever the hell it is I’m doing is not entirely my fault if my genius is…

The spring equinox is considered the astrological new year, and from an energy level, I can dig it. January is often sluggish. We’re still slow to respond after..

It’s 2024! I’m so excited about this year as it’s already bringing abundant opportunities for creativity and community-building! My Novel-in-a-Year course with Story Studio Chicago kicked off this month. I got down with my first workshop with the Orlando Public Library writing crew. Kitchen Table Literary Arts is a Poetry Foundation grantee again! And I’m heading into...

Instead of reflecting on goals met and unmet, what if we just focused on embarking on a journey toward rest for its own sake?

So check it: I was talking with my friend (and amazing artist) Khaulah Naima Nuruddin about how this time of year is like a natural wind down. It’s like, the eleventh month, heading into the twelfth, so I was thinking about how when it’s eleven or twelve at night…

New essays. New classes. New Black writers conference. We on that new-new for the last quarter of 2023!

I’m back. But I ain’t back-back. That’s to say my two months away from social media really encouraged me to take a look at how much time I spent on social media apps, what kind of media I consumed throughout the day, and why I sometimes put pressure on myself to produce and promote.

Deep work, for me, is my writing. It’s my deepest work, I think. In order to do it at the level I know I’m capable of, and even at the level that pushes beyond what I think I’m capable of—and I’m thinking here of Octavia Butler’s challenge to push beyond “good enough”—I need distraction-free concentration. I need obsessive focus and dedication. It’s difficult to cultivate that kind of concentration, focus, and dedication when current social media and marketing and public appearance expectations feel compulsory.

The little break in-between the dates, a half-time rest of sorts, helped energize me for these next few trips, but I’m also trying my best to move with ease. That means getting to the airport early so I ain’t stressed and pressed with security lines and crowded gates. That means staying hydrated and as well-rested as possible while away from home. That means listening to my body and setting boundaries when presented with overstuffed agendas and impromptu requests to do more than what was agreed.

In the spring, time seems to speed up, and while I try my best to live my life aligned and in the flow, sometimes the push and pull of due dates, travel dates, and event dates get the best of me. These next few weeks are going to be busy, but as I find out more and more each day…

Perhaps because it’s been my life for over twelve years, I still see my year in “semesters.” I teach for fall and spring, then take time for myself in the summer. One day, I hope to shake this model, claiming time whatever the season to rest, write, and explore. This summer, I’m closing my calendar, but you can still catch me with workshops and classes before then. Also, Once and Future Lovers will be back on the road!

As I got prepared for AWP this year, I reflected on that 2018 AWP. How I exhausted myself. How I pushed myself. Then, I thought about all the AWPs I’d been to, going all the way back to the first one I attended as a graduate student at Columbia College, way back in 2007. Hungry, wide-eyed, and nearly broke, I worked the Book Fair table and went to as many panels and off-site events I could. In the years that followed, and without the college sponsorship, I went whenever I could afford it (2009, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017), and I would show up much the same. A bit more confident each year, upping the ante with panels and readings. Working to be on the scene. Working to see and be seen.

Focus on flowing and attracting rather than forcing and chasing. Remember to breathe. March is marchin’ and I’m ready.

Because so much of my work is about telling Black stories and uplifting Black writers and artists, when February comes around, I’m a little less enthused than most. I’m on a Black History all year round kind of vibe…

I didn’t watch the entire Oprah interview with Abbott Elementary creator and star Quinta Brunson, but I did see a clip where Oprah asks her, “what’s a question every woman should ask herself?”…

We’re in the final weeks of 2022. Wild, right? There’s something like six weeks left. How you feeling about that? I’m feeling good about it. I’m feeling great about seeing another year close out and new one beginning. I’m feeling thankful and hopeful, inspired and excited…