Tag: writing
-
Do You Do Weird Things?
Just the other day, I texted my husband a picture of fresh thyme posing on a cutting board, with the caption, “Do you do weird things?” Now, before your mind plunges into the gutter, you should know that there’s nothing dirty about this text. When my husband and I first met, we were one month…
-
Nursery Dreaming
Our house has a hallway that leads to a nursery. For many, this is an ordinary sentence. For us, it’s extraordinary. We bought a house down a quiet lane from a man who doesn’t believe in hallways. He called them corridors. “I don’t believe in corridors,” he said. I have never forgotten it. I spent…
-
There Is Purpose in This Paint
“I can give you something productive to paint,” my husband says. “Like the walls of our house.” I’m showing him my new hobbies: coloring and painting. I’m also reviewing the fact that I spent about $40 on colored pencils, a coloring book, composition notebooks, and a watercolor paint set. “Productive is the opposite of what…
-
A Story: One Winter Day in the Life of a Writer
In our house, taking out the trash involves scooping cat litter and adding a week’s worth of poop to our trash. This is usually my husband’s chore. Today, I decide to help my stressed-out husband who is in back-to-back meetings at the office. He says he doesn’t have enough time to take sips of water…
-
For the Ones With a Unique Voice
My husband replies, “What?” like a reflex after 98% of what I say. This isn’t something new for me. My entire life, my mom would read warnings from my teachers on slips of paper tucked inside our take-home folders, “Ashley is very sweet, but she really needs to speak up or her grade will drop.”…
-
How I Ruined the Magic of the Mail
A seemingly innocent email from the United States Postal Service when we moved: Do you want to sign up for Informed Delivery? Sure, I thought, it will be nice to know what’s coming.
-
Want to Know How I Wrote for Oprah? Everything You Need to Know
The rumors are true… I was recently published in O, The Oprah Magazine! (If you haven’t read my published story yet, you can check it out here.) When I shared the news, several people have messaged me asking, “How did you land that writing gig?” So, I thought I would break it down for you…
-
Close-Ups: Grocery List
I lost my grocery list. Crumpled, half-folded, itemized secrets to eating and living. Blueberries Kale Flowers I forget. Omega-3s for joints, anti-inflammatory, immune-system-building ingredients. Back then, my elbows leaned on the cart as I crossed off essentials. But seasons change, it’s gone, or it will resurface when the ice melts. Tonight: frozen pizza.
-
The Writing Life
Two months into calling myself a full-time writer (in a season filled with swapping what-do-you-dos over turkey and egg nog and pecan pies) and I’m here to report that I’ve done a lot of laundry. I’ve tried some new recipes, like the coffee-rubbed pot roast simmering all day in the slow cooker. I’ve walked to the…
-
Sorry I Ate All the Cookies
She skipped town for the weekend and left a Tupperware container on the counter filled with chocolate chip cookies. She had stayed up late one night baking them, clanging baking sheet after clanging baking sheet I heard downstairs at an unusual hour, said it was really only a recipe from the back of the chocolate…
Ashley Fenker 