i read. i write. i rebel. my head hurts.
In the past decade I got married, bought a house, bought my first car, lost my dream job, got a new dream job, published a bunch of short stories, and wrote even more. I learned a lot about life and writing. But without a doubt the most essential writing lesson I’ve taken from my first...
Small Press Dispatch is a new column for short reviews of books and literary magazines published by small, independent publishers. To submit a book or lit mag for review, please email me at klthomas [at] alumni.pitt.edu. Books will be accepted based on interest and availability. I Am Not Famous Anymore: Poems after Shia LaBeouf So,...
Things have been quiet around here for a while. The truth is I haven’t been writing much. And it’s been kind of great. The weather finally warmed up, so I’ve been spending a lot of time in my garden, taking my dog for long walks, and working on non-writing creative projects (sewing and my new...
When someone tells me to stay out of trouble, I invariably respond with, “Never.” Well behaved women seldom make history, after all. And that is one of the many reasons why I love Kelly Link’s 2015 short story collection, Get in Trouble. These nine stories are fantastically dark and brooding, but not so dark as...
The Adventures of Miss Migraine is an ongoing column about my life with chronic migraine. A few weeks ago, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported a story about a black woman incarcerated in Pennsylvania who died after years of painful migraines. Kynesha Grant had been taking Topomax, which didn’t work. She requested a CT scan, but her...
Kelly reads everything, writes strange fiction, and always has a migraine. She lives in Pittsburgh, PA, with her partner D.J., their dog, a lot of tea, and too many books. In a perfect world, she updates this blog once a week with essays on writing, living with chronic illness, and navigating this big/small world we live in. Keep reading...
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