writing

on being brave

By Kate / December 10, 2013 /

I’ve been thinking a lot about silencing lately, about the ways that we, all of us, but especially women, are afraid to say what we need to say, to write what we need to write. Earlier this fall, as the release of Ready for Air loomed, I began to feel more and more anxious. I…

Read More

and that's why

By Kate / September 10, 2013 /

This morning the doorbell rang at ten o’clock. A FedEx driver handed me a thin package. When I turned it over I saw that it was from University of Minnesota Press, my publisher. I tore it open and there it was—my book. The cover is so smooth, matte finish, just as I’d hoped. It’s paperback,…

Read More

changes

By Kate / July 18, 2013 /

For the last four weeks I have been in a state of constant rushing—rushing to work, rushing home, trying to squeeze editing and other work—publication prep, website updates, etc.—into those rare moments when I can sit down for a half hour at my computer. But there has been too much to do, and I’ve been…

Read More

finding my way back

By Kate / January 7, 2013 /

Happy New Year, friends. I hope you enjoyed the holidays. Christmas for me was busy, as it always is, but it was full of good cheer and lots of family. Then over New Year’s we spent five days at my mom’s cabin in Northern Minnesota. It was cold up there, but sunny. Each day I…

Read More

when the waiting pays off

By Kate / October 8, 2012 /

Eight and a half years ago, I went to the coffee shop near my house, ordered a decaf coffee, and sat down with paper and pen. I hadn’t written in months and wasn’t even sure I had the mental capacity to still string together words into sentences. It was cold outside, February in Minnesota, streetlights…

Read More

Champagne anyone?

By Kate / March 15, 2012 /

What was waiting for me on the front step when I got home from work today… And then… Disbelief. Ecstatic. Giddy. (A little deranged, maybe.) And this is why you never give up. Persistence, always.  

Read More

Milwaukee

By Kate / February 19, 2012 /

I left work at 2 p.m. on Thursday and picked up my friend, Jess, and then we hit the road for Milwaukee. Jess and I have been friends since college and we see each other regularly, but we rarely get to spend extended periods of time together. Nothing like a road trip to fix that!…

Read More

a whirlwind

By Kate / February 10, 2012 /

I haven’t been feeling well the last couple of days, so this morning I called in sick, dropped Zoë off at preschool, drove back home to a very quiet house, and climbed in bed. Two hours later I awoke with a chill, but feeling much better. So I cleared the clutter from my desk, made…

Read More

Mother Writers and the Hostile Reader

By Kate / January 20, 2012 /

It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a class/workshop situation not heavily populated by mothers. Most of my classes, if not entirely made up of mother writers, are at least populated by a significant numbers of mothers. And that’s because that’s what I do: I help mothers write the stories they need to…

Read More

peace

By Kate / December 23, 2011 /

It’s Friday morning. Both girls are at school. D is running errands. The house is completely quiet. I’m sitting in my tiny, cluttered office surrounded by half-read books, stacks of papers (the Use Your Words galley among them!), and my endless to-do lists. And I couldn’t be happier. I always appreciated the time I was…

Read More