I Still Write, Y’all

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

Handwritten edits from my summer with Amelia
Handwritten edits from 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).

All My Pets are Dead
a preview of the final product

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.