Craft essays and book reviews
A selection of book reviews
"We Should All Be Birds," by Brian Buckbee, Washington Post.
"Three Days in June," by Anne Tyler, Boston Globe.
"Evensong," by Stewart O'Nan, Boston Globe.
"Joyride," by Susan Orlean, Boston Globe.
"A Silent Treatment," by Jeannie Vanasco, Star Tribune.
"Ruth: A Novel," by Kate Riley, Star Tribune.
"A Marriage at Sea," by Sophie Elmhirst, Boston Globe.
"The Place of Tides," by James Rebanks, Star Tribune.
"Wildfire Days," by Kelly Ramsey, Los Angeles Times.
"Where Rivers Part," by Kao Kalia Yang, San Francisco Chronicle.
"Tell Me Everything," by Elizabeth Strout, San Francisco Chronicle.
"The Lede," by Calvin Trillin, Los Angeles Times.
Craft Essays (and other essays)
Letter From Minnesota: Our Community Grows Stronger by the Week, essay for Lit Hub
Do I Own My Own Story? But What if it's Also Your Story, and You Don't Want me to Tell it? Craft essay for Brevity Blog.
But Will They Love Me When It's Done? Writing about Family in Memoir. Craft essay for Tri-Quarterly.
What's in a Name? The Risks of Writing about Family. Craft essay for Brevity Blog.
To Write Long, First Write Short. Craft essay for Brevity Blog.
Daring to Bring Humor and Wonder to Serious Subjects: an interview with Tom Whipple of The Times of London, for Nieman Storyboard.
A Brutal Murder, a Welcoming Pub and an Eligiac Essay of Place: an interview with Keith Duggan of the Irish Times, for Nieman Storyboard.
Six Tips for Crafting Scenes, an edited version of talk delivered at the Nieman Seminar for Narrative Editors, for Nieman Storyboard.
Why's This So Good? Examining the work of Darcy Frey, for Nieman Storyboard.
The Painful Joy of Letting Go, essay on giving books away, for Nieman Storyboard.
Analytics Aren't the Only Measure, essay on reader feedback, for Nieman Storyboard.
Stuck Before You Start? Eat a Cookie, Take a Walk, essay on overcoming writers block, for Nieman Storyboard.