Iwokeupthismorning |somethingiswrong| Mymindisa t h i e f ButIcan't forget whatIcannot remember <don'tremember> #UnhingedPit #A #Q #DIS

#UnhingedPit #A #Q #Upmarket #DIS

Sunday mornings are for causally freaking out about having a table at an adult book fair later this afternoon... ☕️😮‍💨🫠

I need some sort of jam session but for writers, where you join in, with maybe only a spark of a story, and strum and pluck your ideas with other writers until you've got something solid to really start playing with...

Writers are like: I want to write a best-seller that everyone will read! Writers are also like: I hope I don't run into anyone I know at the grocery store.

I write because my brain leaves me no other choice.

"But mama, what do you want to be when you grow up?" ❤️

The Art of Revision II She ran fast, but it was no use. She ran fast, yet it was no use. She ran fast. It was no use. She ran fast--it was no use. She ran fast; it was no use. She ran fast. But it was no use. She ran fast, but it was no use.

The Art of Revision She ran fast. She ran quickly. She ran quickly like a fox. Like a fox, her feet pounded as she ran. Her feet pounded as she ran. She was a fox, pounding on the pavement. Like a fox, her feet pounded on the pavement, quick & quicker still. She ran fast.

My 6th grader showed me his "About Me" presentation for school. On the Favorite Things slide, smack in the middle of it, surrounded by Michael Phelps, donuts, African wild dogs, & bicycles is none other than the cover of MY BOOK. Friends, I'm a grateful mess over here. 😭😭😭

For most people, rejection means failure. But for a writer, rejection means that you're trying, and it gives you the chance to believe in yourself (and story) that much more.

Starting the morning off right!🌞 I pitched my adult upmarket fiction novel, THINGS WE CAN(NOT), full of disability rep and truly the story of my very soul.

It's #spinalcordinjuryawarenessmonth. A mouthful, but so much more. I thought I'd take the chance to reintroduce myself. I'm Ryan, and I sustained a spinal cord injury from a car wreck almost 29 years ago. Some say I died that night, but I fought to come back. 🧵 1/7

Kid: "Why are you in a wheelchair?" Me: "My legs don't work, so I get to use wheels!" Kid: "Oh, cool. Were you born that way?" Me: "No, I was in a car accident that hurt the part of my body that helps my brain tell my legs to move." Kid: "So you hurt your soul?"

I had no idea how emotional I would feel being able to share the cover of my debut picture book, yet here we are 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

The speed at which I can vacillate between thinking I've written the next Great American novel to being certain I've created the next Great American dumpster fire is astonishing.

My imposter syndrome lies ((within)) every single line as I revise. I can choose to *linger* in that e m p t y s p a c e , or I can choose to keep going.

WHEN IS MOM SUPPOSED TO WRITE?: A POEM In the wee hours of the morning, when you're quietly drinking coffee in the dark, there is no worse sound than the creak of your child's bedroom door.

Maybe for a lack of personal creativity and imagination, my story has a lot of truths in it from my own life. The story ultimately came from me wondering if my life as a wheelchair user would be different, if others didn't place their own feelings about me ONTO me...

Books can sweep you away, or make you think in a way you didn't know existed. They can help reflect on the world in its finest as well as its deepest cruelties. Books can make you belly-laugh so hard. They can even do it all within the very same text. Books are magic.

I was just awarded with a local fiction writers conference scholarship!!!! In the midst of letting imposter syndrome take over my revisions… 🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌

My MC has a cat, but given a moment to think about it, she can't recall ever adopting him or when... it's the THING WE CAN(NOT) 👀

When Ryan (45 FMC) is stuck in a world of revisions with no way out, she realizes she has a choice: follow her dreams or get swept away in self-doubt. Will she ever get this book right and land a new agent? Only she can write the end of this story. #MePit #WritingCommunity

In realizing that I'm friends with many but partners of none... ISO a PB critique group, looking for a chaotic middle aged mom-writer to join in your fun. Is that you?😅🫶

Definitely finding strengths in your own vulnerabilities ❤️‍🩹

I'll be pitching my adult upmarket novel, as well as a PB in verse! Both with wheelchair rep❤️

Presenting my #agentsguide for my latest work, THINGS WE CAN(NOT). •••Coming to query inboxes this fall••• #Agents, if you're hungry for disability rep in the form of an upmarket/book club read with an unreliable, yet evolving narrator, look no further...

It took me nearly 15 years to complete and publish my memoir in 2022. My writing hasn't looked back since!😉

There's a new 2nd grader at school who's a wheelchair user. She's the only one. We caught each other in the hallway, and she looked at me and whispered, "You're just like me!" We both smiled. Representation matters, friends. ❤️♿️📚

I just want to be as brave as the characters I make.

Today, I'm 45. I feel just as old as I do young. But, more than anything, I'm stronger than ever. ❤️

A nod to the sunflower who could not be caged.

ELEANOR OLIPHANT x WHAT ALICE FORGOT Unreliable narrator Whatifshedoesn'trememberthewreck? Uneasy surroundings Whyallthestares? Unimaginable consequences Whatiftheytellhereverything? Uninhibited journey #PosterPit #Q soon #A #DIS

ELEANOR OLIPHANT x WHAT ALICE FORGOT "I have to forget it. Leave it in the moment.          I choose to let go of the perpetual feeling that everything has fatal holes in it. Ignore what I see. Ignore what’s real." #PosterPit #Q soon #A #DIS

I made my 6yo check out a poetry book from the library. He whined. Guess which book is his favorite in the stack??????

Last minute #PosterPit roundup?? Who's in?! (I actually made 2 posters that I think are quite rad!)

Hello #PosterPit people - specifically #litagents, #editors, and publishers! If you know that you're participating in our event this Saturday the 16th, please let us know! We'd love to create a thread of interested parties and links to your MSWLS <3

I showed my kiddos all of the illustrator sketches of my PB debut, and seriously friends, what a feeling... ...and then the 6yo started critiquing my words.

My oldest starts middle school today. He woke up way too early, saying, "I just can't contain myself! It feels like Christmas morning!" This kid's going to be alright. 😎

I got a message from a teacher who used my memoir for summer reading. She sent photos of her students working on their essays😍😍😍😍😍

Who's in?! 👀 🙌

The one thing I'm missing from this app Mom Writers Where are you, friends?!

I didn't order the salad I wanted at dinner because the description spelled *protein* wrong...😣 Sigh. It's hard to be a writer.

Diary--> journal--> blog--> personal essay--> memoir--> magazine article--> microfiction--> picture book --> middle grade novel (on sub)--> poem --> upmarket adult fiction (wip) #evolutionofmywords

Sometimes your most important work as a writer is the time you spend away from the page.

Got a message from a woman who read my HuffPost article. She said she can't get it out of her mind. And this is why I write. ❤️

When the thing is I cannot FORGET what I can't REMEMBER... ...until I do. I've got to get out of here. But I can't outrun my past. I can't run at all. ELEANOR OLIPHANT x WHAT ALICE FORGOT #questpit #Q soon #A #DIS

So thrilled to see this live today!! Read about why regret has been my guiding antagonist here in @huffpost.com www.huffpost.com/entry/compet...

Finally finished an #agentsguide for my latest (and first!) adult fiction novel... now if I could only finish revisions😅

It took me 15 years to write my memoir. It took me 37 minutes to write my debut picture book. I no longer know anything about time anymore.