Category Archives: writing

Officer Down Published

Posted on November 18, 2021 by susanmsink@gmail.com

My first novel, Officer Down, is now available. I’m pretty excited about it– it looks beautiful and I can finally share this story with everyone. The cover, with an image by Jordan Duca, is beautiful. As a friend who is … Continue reading →

Posted in St. Joseph, the Farm, Uncategorized, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Houston, We had a problem

Posted on October 17, 2019 by susanmsink@gmail.com

Hi WordPress blog fans! Whew. The blog has been down, I see, since about June 14. That’s interesting timing, as my last treatment of Chemo Round 2 was on June 4. I was too overwhelmed to do trouble shooting (sadly, … Continue reading →

Posted in cancer, garden, prairie, writing | 5 Comments

Writing Through

Posted on April 4, 2019 by susanmsink@gmail.com

Yesterday, sitting in my bed after chemo, I finished the final draft (as far as anything is final) of my novel, Failure to Thrive. I am now working on finalizing an agent list for querying and writing the query and … Continue reading →

Posted in cancer, writing | Tagged , | 11 Comments

The Story Beneath the Story

Posted on April 3, 2018 by susanmsink@gmail.com

I’m writing a novel. I’m in a yearlong novel writing class, in fact. And it is not a happy story. In fact, the story is quite depressing. And so I’ve been going around the past two weeks especially asking myself … Continue reading →

Posted in Benedictine monastery, religion, writing | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Pause

Posted on September 23, 2017 by susanmsink@gmail.com

Dear Reader, I started writing this blog back in 2008. I started it for a specific reason. I’d written an essay that I submitted to America magazine. It was a risky essay, and it was a nuanced one– about living in an … Continue reading →

Posted in cancer, The Saint John's Bible, writing | 5 Comments

What Makes Poetry

Posted on August 11, 2017 by susanmsink@gmail.com

I think about poetry a lot. Particularly what makes a poem. In this time of free verse when it seems few of the tools of poetry are being put to good use, I still know a poem when I see … Continue reading →

Posted in poetry, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

One Year Ago…

Posted on February 20, 2017 by susanmsink@gmail.com

Facebook let me know that today was a big anniversary: one year from the official diagnosis. I decided to go back and read some of those early entries in the blog. The entries interested me much less than the comments … Continue reading →

Posted in cancer, writing | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Coffee House Culture

Posted on February 6, 2017 by susanmsink@gmail.com

Long Beach, California, is rich with coffee houses. All the old ones are still in place, and plenty more have popped up in the 12 years I’ve been gone. Like I did when I lived here and had tons of … Continue reading →

Posted in travel, writing | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Surprises

Posted on February 4, 2017 by susanmsink@gmail.com

While I’ve been here in California, Steve has been busy working on his new landscaping website, building raised beds in the greenhouse, visiting his elderly aunt and his parents in the nursing home, and cleaning out the family house in … Continue reading →

Posted in art, Minnesota history, writing | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Surprises

Deep Clean and Great Finds

Posted on January 6, 2017 by susanmsink@gmail.com

I’ve been hauling this file cabinet around the country since at least 1997. Though I think I got it earlier because I sort of remember it standing on the porch in our last apartment in Chicago. I can picture it … Continue reading →

Posted in art, poetry, the Farm, travel, writing | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment