Oh undefined audience, how I’ve neglected you so!

I didn’t forget about y’all exactly, I only forgot that I do this thing called blogging from time to time. As always when I return from such sabbaticals, I wanted to give you a preview of things to come:

 The MVA & What I Learned There (i.e. avoid going to the MVA at all costs)

I try not to be one of those here’s-every-second-of-my-day,-I’m-a-martyr-for-enduring-my-very-hard-(except not really)-life status updaters on Facebook, but my friends will agree that I am too-often guilty of such posts. I’m working on it. In any case, my status from day one at the MVA should give you an accurate preview of a blog post to come:

I’ve never felt as alone and inadequate as I do right now at the MVA. It’s like going to see the wizard except you find an angry mob instead of a small balding man.

I just filled out a survey for a coffee cup just to make sure I at least leave here with something.

Maryland, if we break up, I need you to know that it is definitely you, not me. Finally, I miss you, La DMV.

It was, obviously, a dramatic post from an overwhelmed southern girl experiencing the “big city” in a way she hadn’t before, but there’s more to it than that. After “Day 2” of the process is complete in a few weeks, I’ll share my findings with you.

My Summer with Amelia

I chose to spend my final summer semester engaging in two independent studies. One of these was a fiction workshop. As a primarily nonfiction writer, I’ve often thought differently of fiction writers. In fact, I usually just refer to them as liars. But listen, it’s actually a challenging craft. Fiction readers expect things to make sense. Imagine that!

I spent the majority of the summer exploring a character I created when I first moved to Baltimore: Amelia. She’s a combination of myself and the beloved Amelia Bedelia from the days of my early childhood reading. Through my exploration of Amelia, I learned a lot about writing, and as it were, my own “character.”

I’ll dedicate a blog to this enlightening exploration soon, but in the meantime, you may be interested in the first story I ever drafted for Amelia. You can read that here.

Adventures in Book-Making

The other study I engaged in this summer was one of book-making. I intended to make 25 books, and I ended up with one, very stubborn, but beautiful accordion book. Before you judge my effort, I should say that the accordion is actually 15 panels that are mini-books all of their own. Stay tuned for pictures and reflections (for those of you that are in to that kind of thing).

That’s it for the preview for today. As I begin working on my final thesis, I mainly thought I’d remind the world that I am indeed still a writer. I just don’t seem to be much of a blogger. People can change though, right?

–Michelle

P.S. In case you missed it, I was published in Industry Night Lit Magazine earlier this summer. Check out my piece, “The Arrangement,” and other great pieces from other great writers.