For Creative People Who Have to Keep the Bills Paid
Yep, I’m in Japan.
Quick catch-up for those of you just joining the blog: back in the spring I accepted a teaching job with the JET program in the Japanese public school system, and three weeks ago I waved goodbye to New Hampshire and hello to amazing Toyama prefecture, a mountainous region on the Sea of Japan coast.
What was the transition like, you ask? Well, here’s a rundown of the last 3+ weeks… Continue reading
It’s been a CRAZY few weeks since July started and I realized I had LESS THAN A MONTH before Japan to pack up my entire apartment and finish the novel and cancel all my utilities AND finish up a bunch of miscellaneous writing projects AND bring my Japanese up to par—so yeah, I’ve been pretty busy.
Having so much to do has partly been good, since it’s kept me insanely focused most days and pushed me to get more done…though the downside is that it’s also causing me a lot of stress and led to a lot of mad scrambling as I second-guess myself about what needs to be done and in which order.
So with a week before my flight, here’s a report card-style progress report of Continue reading
Big news big news big news!
About a month ago I got accepted to teach with JET, the Japanese government’s international exchange program that places English teachers in public schools across Japan.
Two weeks ago I gave notice at my Day Job, telling them that I needed time to prepare for the move.
Then, last week, I left, and now I’m free. Continue reading
AWESOME UPDATE: Eikaiwa Bums is out! This post is about how I queried the press and signed the contract, but you can also read about what happened when it actually came out, or cut to the chase and order a copy from my webstore.
So a little while ago I got some REALLY amazing news: in August, Blue Cubicle Press will be publishing my short story, Eikaiwa Bums, as a chapbook in its Overtime series of fiction about work. And just like that, I’ll have a book out.
Though this is hardly my first time getting my writing published, the Eikaiwa Bums chapbook feels like a BIG step because it’s an actual printed book that people can hold in their hand and read, as opposed to reading online or as part of a bigger magazine. (Don’t despair, virtual readers: there’ll Continue reading