I believe that reading is an act of creation. The reader brings the writers’ words to life uniquely and individually. No two readers experience a book in exactly the same way. Readers create the experience of the book based on their frame of reference, mood, memories, and associations. …

In an interview with the poetry magazine jubliat, poet Lynn Xu was asked, “Why do poets want to publish? What part of the process or practice is publishing?” I love her response: I don’t know. I can’t speak for everyone, but I think a lot of us publish because we…

I often write about studying Creative Writing in college. What many readers might not know is that I was also a student of the Marshall School of Business during my four years at the University of Southern California. I majored in Creative Writing; I minored in Entrepreneurship. I learned a…

Whenever I read a rough draft by a young writer, or when I look over a business plan from a student asking me for feedback, or when I am pitched an idea for a collaboration or project, I think of a woman named Cynthia. …

A few years ago, I went with my friend Marjie to UC Berkeley to see the Scottish Ballet’s stunning performance of Tennessee Williams’ famous play “A Streetcar Named Desire.” It was my first time going to a professional ballet performance — my only previous ballet experience was attending community performances…

When you ask my husband, Allyn, about his favorite memories of our relationship, at the top of his list is: “The surprise party.” Looking back, I was probably a little bit crazy-in-love when I decided to throw him a surprise party. We had only been dating for seven months. It…

The other day around lunchtime, I wandered into the kitchen to wrangle together something to eat, and I noticed a funny smell. I couldn’t quite place it. It wasn’t a food-related smell. It was something more… chemical. “Allyn?” I called. “Does something smell weird to you?” He came into the…

I remember the first and only time I went shopping on Black Friday. It was my final year of grad school and I was spending Thanksgiving with my boyfriend’s family in the Chicago suburbs. During the Thanksgiving meal, the topic of Black Friday came up. Before then, I never had…

The first time I remember noticing daffodils popping up in the springtime was my junior year of college. This might sound crazy to some of you — that I was into my second decade on this planet before I paid those bright yellow flowers any mind. But I grew up…