Monday, February 13, 2017

Live in Hypertext Magazine!

Just in time for Valentine's Day, Hypertext Magazine offers its Love Bites issue.

And my roundabout love story Renovations is part of the fun!


This essay is actually many years old. I wrote its first incarnation as part of my creative nonfiction workshop in the University of New Orleans's MFA program back in 2004. 

As a poetry student, I remember being so nervous to have the creative nonfiction specialists read and critique my essay, especially after reading their amazing work. Was I ever gratified when they offered their enthusiastic support! 

Yet it took me a long time to try putting it into wider circulation. Part of it was my insecurity about my nonfiction; part of it was nervousness about exposing so much about myself (and possibly embarrassing the people in the story). I don't know how memoirists do it! Years ago, I received a very nice rejection and then let it sit...and sit.  

Finally, with the passage of time, I felt enough distance to consider it purely from a technical standpoint. I dug it out, dusted it off, and realized it offered a perspective you don't hear too often: a grown, partnered woman with a crush. Uncomfortable, sure, but ultimately relatable. 

Luckily, Hypertext's editors agreed!

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