This past October was a blur of teaching, committee work, and fourteen hour long grading sessions for me. I love what I do, and this semester I’ve been blessed with wonderfully curious and talented students, but my responsibilities at the college during the past month left no time for my creative work. Now that October is behind me I’m eager to get back to the words.

I did have the opportunity to share my work last month in a few venues. On the 11th I was a featured author at Cincinnati’s largest literary event Books by the Banks. From the wine and cheese social the night before to the well-attended book expo, It was a great time and I look forward to the chance to share my work with readers there again in the future.

My review of Carol Matos’ new poetry collection The Hush Before the Animals Attack was featured in Fjords Review last month. You can read it by clicking on the link above. I’m currently in the process of reviewing to other books for the journal to be published at a later date.

At present I’m in the process of doing final edits of my new novel for my agent, and hope to have them finished within the next week or so. The writing, re-writing, and editing of this novel have dominated my work for the last year, and I’m eager to see it done. Regardless of what happens once I complete this book, I’ll walk away knowing that I’ve done good work and with the satisfaction that I’ve gained new insights into both storytelling and tackling an extended writing project.

November is here, and while I’m too busy and involved with other writing projects to take on the challenge of National Novel Writing Month I do look forward to having the time to read all the books I’ve bought lately. Reading while the leaves fall outside is one of the most singularly blissful moments during the fall, and I miss those hours of quiet contemplation with my fellow authors who’ve gutted out the hard work of sitting down in front of a computer alone and trying to say something compelling and worthwhile.