ABOUT THIS PLACE

Once, when I was training to be a hospice volunteer, they asked us to write our own obituary. Try it. It’s a good exercise — not just in how you want to die, but how you want to be remembered.

For the first part, I figured a heart-attack while laughing at a camp fire, surrounded by friends and family and the cat (who could never handle a campfire, but whatever).

The second part is trickier. For those that came to this site wanting to know more about me, here’s the summary:

At April's Wedding, together for an brief moment in NYC harbor

I was born in Princeton New Jersey, seven minutes behind my twin brother Colin. We lived in rural New Jersey, which no one thinks exists but it did. When I was 4, my parents divorced, and Mom moved into Princeton with all of us, my brother and sister and me. I had a rock collection. I ignored the rock collection. I used to fall asleep listening to a record “Sounds of Terror” given to me by my mother. I wanted Dracula to be my father or best friend. From Fangoria Magazine, I bought a tiny glass coffin of dirt from “Transylvania” and wore it like a necklace.

Shirt from Kohl's

 

I have worked as a writing teacher, boat carpenter, game designer for reality television, columnist, book ghostwriter, journalist, and nearly always as a volunteer at something. I graduated from Yale and The Iowa Writers’ Workshop (I’m even on the homepage).

These days, I am an assistant professor of Writing at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I work with some fairly awesome colleagues, including Caitlin Horrocks, Patricia Clark, and Sean Prentiss.

My twin brother Colin is a musician and graphic designer in Chicago. He is not, as has been rumored, struggling with his weight or insane. My sister April teaches second grade in New Jersey, and she’s been the inspiration for a story or two.

I write fiction, essays, plays, performance pieces and books. I always struggle writing a publication list because what interests me is sort of a sprawl: fiction, nonfiction, screenplays, drama…

My fiction has been in The Atlantic Monthly, Zoetrope, FiveChapters, Zoetrope, The Pushcart Prize, Best American Fantasy, The Sun, One Story, American Short Fiction, and elsewhere.

My nonfiction has been in the New York Times Magazine, Wired, The Best American Science and Nature WritingThe Village Voice, and many other magazines now dead to me.

My plays have been developed at The Actors’ Theatre of Louisville, The New Harmony Project, The Playwrights’ Center, The Playwright’s Theatre of New Jersey, The Lark, and The Orchard Project. I’ve performed at The Moth (NYC), Highways (CA), Riverside Theatre (IA), Urban Institute of Contemporary Art (MI), The Grand Rapids Art Museum (MI), and elsewhere.

My original screenplay, Kill Your Darlings (written with the director John Krokidas) — about the origins of the Beat generation — is being produced by Killer Films (NYC).

While I was at Iowa, I also started a program called The Patient Voice Project to teach expressive writing to people struggling with chronic illness. The program has received grants from Johnson and Johnson/The Society for Arts in Healthcare and The Iowa Humanities Council, and I’ve spoken about it at conferences across the country.

65 Responses

  1. Exactly where is the facebook like button ?

    February 2, 2012 at 11:54 am

  2. Book-marked, I enjoy your site! :)

    February 3, 2012 at 2:03 pm

  3. Hello Ethel,Glad to have found you and lokiong forward to reading your work.Take care,Sean

    February 4, 2012 at 7:30 pm

  4. rfwt20 ktprqhuzfrrh

    February 5, 2012 at 3:20 pm

  5. Jan

    I would like to thank you very much for the job you have made in writing this piece of writing. I am hoping the same effective work by you in the future too.

    February 7, 2012 at 3:59 am

  6. wXmXzN oicxglcxftuc

    February 10, 2012 at 2:35 pm

  7. Qxqasp , [url=http://gylwgjhatldd.com/]gylwgjhatldd[/url], [link=http://ohrxbmgruayf.com/]ohrxbmgruayf[/link], http://jdxpjiegmphq.com/

    February 11, 2012 at 4:46 pm

  8. Would love to always get updated outstanding web blog!

    February 11, 2012 at 9:05 pm

  9. We’re a bunch of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community. Your website offered us with helpful info to paintings on. You’ve done a formidable task and our whole neighborhood will likely be thankful to you.

    February 14, 2012 at 9:49 pm

  10. I dugg some of you post as I cerebrated they were invaluable very beneficial

    February 14, 2012 at 10:09 pm

  11. Pingback: be a search engine

  12. Pingback: Las Vegas golf package

  13. You got a very excellent website, Glad I found it through Yahoo.

    February 17, 2012 at 12:19 am

  14. I like this web site because so much useful stuff on here.

    February 17, 2012 at 5:11 pm

  15. I do agree with all of the ideas you have offered on your post. They are really convincing and will certainly work. Nonetheless, the posts are very brief for starters. Could you please prolong them a bit from next time? Thanks for the post.

    February 17, 2012 at 9:40 pm

  16. I like this website because so much utile stuff on here.

    February 17, 2012 at 10:55 pm

  17. Thanks for this post, I am a big fan of this web site would like to go along updated.

    February 18, 2012 at 4:09 am

  18. You got a very fantastic website, Gladiola I noticed it through google.

    February 18, 2012 at 5:39 pm

  19. I do consider all the concepts you’ve introduced in your post. They’re really convincing and will certainly work. Still, the posts are very quick for newbies. May you please lengthen them a bit from subsequent time? Thank you for the post.

    February 18, 2012 at 7:31 pm

  20. I like this internet site because so much utile stuff on here.

    February 18, 2012 at 10:17 pm

  21. Beneficial article, We are checking back again persistently to search for improvements.

    February 19, 2012 at 12:15 am

  22. I will right away snatch your rss feed as I can not to find your e-mail subscription hyperlink or e-newsletter service. Do you have any? Kindly permit me realize in order that I could subscribe. Thanks.

    February 19, 2012 at 1:39 am

  23. I like this internet site because so much utile stuff on here.

    February 19, 2012 at 4:00 am

  24. Book marked, I enjoy your site! :)

    February 19, 2012 at 2:51 pm

  25. I will right away grasp your rss feed as I can not in finding your email subscription link or newsletter service. Do you have any? Kindly allow me understand in order that I could subscribe. Thanks.

    February 19, 2012 at 3:43 pm

  26. I’ll right away snatch your rss feed as I can’t to find your email subscription hyperlink or e-newsletter service. Do you have any? Please permit me recognize so that I may subscribe. Thanks.

    February 19, 2012 at 5:25 pm

  27. Amazing publish, I await updates by you.

    February 19, 2012 at 10:43 pm

  28. I’d incessantly want to be update on new blog posts on this internet site, saved to my bookmarks!

    February 19, 2012 at 10:57 pm

  29. Regards for this post, I am a big fan of this internet site would like to go on updated.

    February 20, 2012 at 12:40 am

  30. You got a very excellent website, Gladiola I detected it through google.

    February 20, 2012 at 3:09 am

  31. You got a very great website, Gladiola I found it through Yahoo.

    February 20, 2012 at 6:25 am

  32. Thanks for this post, I am a big fan of this website would like to go on updated.

    February 20, 2012 at 2:39 pm

  33. I will right away snatch your rss as I can not in finding your e-mail subscription hyperlink or e-newsletter service. Do you have any? Please allow me understand so that I could subscribe. Thanks.

    February 20, 2012 at 8:31 pm

  34. Hey there admin, I clearly needed to actually give a swift remark to mention that in fact I admired your particular story. Thanks!

    February 20, 2012 at 8:32 pm

  35. I’ll right away snatch your rss feed as I can’t in finding your e-mail subscription link or e-newsletter service. Do you have any? Please allow me recognize in order that I may subscribe. Thanks.

    February 20, 2012 at 11:34 pm

  36. Ike

    The quill is mightier than the sword.

    February 21, 2012 at 6:16 pm

  37. Third time is a charm.

    February 21, 2012 at 6:49 pm

  38. Wonderful article! We will be linking to this great article on our site. Keep up the great writing.

    February 22, 2012 at 2:29 am

  39. Hello! Cool post! Please do tell us when we will see a follow up!

    February 22, 2012 at 6:17 pm

  40. I will immediately grab your rss as I can’t to find your e-mail subscription hyperlink or newsletter service. Do you’ve any? Kindly permit me recognize so that I could subscribe. Thanks.

    February 22, 2012 at 10:11 pm

  41. I will immediately grasp your rss as I can’t in finding your email subscription hyperlink or e-newsletter service. Do you’ve any? Kindly let me recognize so that I could subscribe. Thanks.

    February 23, 2012 at 12:14 am

  42. Cool Page , guys! Great Information aswell. Right into my social bookmarks

    February 24, 2012 at 5:09 am

  43. I have been browsing on-line greater than 3 hours as of late, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. It is pretty value sufficient for me. In my opinion, if all site owners and bloggers made excellent content material as you did, the web will likely be much more useful than ever before. “Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical.” by Lawrence Peter Berra.

    February 25, 2012 at 1:27 am

  44. I like this website because so much useful material on here.

    February 25, 2012 at 5:03 pm

  45. I’m impressed, I need to say. Actually hardly ever do I encounter a blog that’s each educative and entertaining, and let me tell you, you could have hit the nail on the head. Your idea is outstanding; the problem is something that not sufficient individuals are speaking intelligently about. I’m very blissful that I stumbled throughout this in my search for something referring to this.

    February 25, 2012 at 6:21 pm

  46. There is perceptibly a bunch to identify about this. I think you made some nice points in features also.

    February 25, 2012 at 10:02 pm

  47. You could definitely see your expertise within the work you write. The world hopes for even more passionate writers like you who are not afraid to say how they believe. All the time follow your heart. “Until you walk a mile in another man’s moccasins you can’t imagine the smell.” by Robert Byrne.

    February 25, 2012 at 11:27 pm

  48. A Web Design Guide For Creating Spectacular Compelling Websites

    February 25, 2012 at 11:46 pm

  49. You got a very fantastic website, Sword lily I detected it through google.

    February 26, 2012 at 12:36 am

  50. I simply want to say I’m very new to blogging and site-building and honestly liked this web-site. Probably I’m planning to bookmark your website . You certainly come with wonderful articles. With thanks for sharing with us your web page.

    February 26, 2012 at 1:53 am

  51. Search engine capabilities are an essential part of a large site. It is best to put a search box in the top right corner right of your homepage. Make sure that anyone can search for any item that would be included in your site. You can get a search bar from Google or FreeFind.

    February 26, 2012 at 4:12 am

  52. I like this internet site because so much utile material on here.

    February 26, 2012 at 4:32 am

  53. I truly appreciate this post. I¡¦ve been looking all over for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You have made my day! Thx again

    February 26, 2012 at 4:33 am

  54. Don’t assume that the design process has wrapped up just because the site is live. Commit to updating your site so that it is current. It will not be necessary to continually make updates, but you should do so fairly regularly. Regular updates are crucial, especially if your website hosts anything relating to current events. Luckily, keeping website current isn’t as overwhelming as tending to a blog. Set aside a few hours everyday to make changes to your website.

    February 26, 2012 at 10:25 am

  55. After research a couple of of the weblog posts in your web site now, and I actually like your way of blogging. I bookmarked it to my bookmark web site checklist and shall be checking again soon. Pls try my web page as nicely and let me know what you think.

    February 26, 2012 at 10:46 am

  56. You got a very superb website, Gladiolus I observed it through AOL.

    February 26, 2012 at 8:49 pm

  57. Thanks for your post. I would really like to say that the price of car insurance varies widely from one insurance policy to another, since there are so many different facets which bring about the overall cost. By way of example, the brand name of the vehicle will have a significant bearing on the price tag. A reliable older family car will have a less expensive premium than just a flashy racecar.

    February 27, 2012 at 12:59 am

  58. I’m very happy to read this. This is the kind of details that needs to be given and not the accidental misinformation that is at the other blogs. Appreciate your sharing this greatest doc.

    February 27, 2012 at 11:36 am

  59. An interesting discussion is worth comment. I think that you should write more on this topic, it might not be a taboo subject but generally people are not enough to speak on such topics. To the next. Cheers

    February 27, 2012 at 1:38 pm

  60. Good blog. Thank you!

    February 27, 2012 at 5:15 pm

  61. I want to to thank you for this great read!! I certainly loved every little bit of it. I’ve got you book-marked to check out new things you post…

    February 27, 2012 at 5:46 pm

  62. This really answered my drawback, thank you!

    February 27, 2012 at 7:15 pm

  63. very nice publish, i certainly love this website, carry on it

    February 27, 2012 at 8:51 pm

  64. You have a great blog here! would you like to make some invite posts on my blog?

    February 27, 2012 at 10:00 pm

  65. Pingback: URL

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>