It’s been a long time since I’ve posted to this blog.

Actually, I don’t know why I bother to write that last sentence, because I’m not really sure that anyone reads this blog. But in the name of continuity, I think it’s important to note that I’ve been blog-delinquent in the last several months.

In that time a lot has happened. I got married, for one thing. And I went away on my second residency for the Fairfield University Masters of Fine Arts Program. And I was made a full adjunct professor at Norwalk Community College, where I teach. I got to interview some celebrities for my job as entertainment reporter at The Hour. I wrote some short stories. I did some yoga. I fell right off my pre-wedding Weight Watchers diet into a vat of chocolate.

And all of this has been fantastic – particularly the whole “being married” thing – but there’s been a big, blog-shaped hole in my life. So to rectify that, here I am again, trying to make a go of this.

But my triumphant return to WordPress brings me back to the fundamental question I had when I stated this blog: What, exactly, am I trying to do here?
I’m a writer; am I going to write about writing? Isn’t that an awful lot like writing a song about rock and roll? Because while there are many good, valid and popular songs about life as a rock star, I just don’t want this to be the writer’s blog equivalent of Boston’s “Rock ‘N’ Roll Band.” Nobody needs that.

So this is my plan. As part of the MFA program, the students have to respond to fiction every month with craft essays. That is, we have to write two to four page essays about a specific element of craft in a work of fiction (i.e. use of punctuation in Dick and Jane books). I plan to post some of mine here, interspersed with other posts, of course.

I don’t know if anyone’s going to want to read my homework, but that’s another matter. At the very least, maybe my mother can print some of them out, ink an “A” on them, and stick them to the fridge.

7 replies
  1. A.J. O'Connell
    A.J. O'Connell says:

    You are absolutely correct Jamie. There are too many great books for anyone to read. I will try to share the ones I’ve read. I hope you all will do the same.

    Reply
  2. A.J. O'Connell
    A.J. O'Connell says:

    You are absolutely correct Jamie. There are too many great books for anyone to read. I will try to share the ones I’ve read. I hope you all will do the same.

    Reply
  3. Jamie
    Jamie says:

    “A Vat of chocolate.”

    Sounds like the title of something inspired, something I’d like to read. Post what you read, what you want to read, and tell me if I should read the works too. Because we all will never live long enough to read everything we’d like to, but at least we can help familiarize each other with what is worth reading.

    Reply

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