It’s grant writing time! This isn’t my favorite part. I can plan programs and instruction all day. I actually really enjoy that stuff. Chunking away at a grant proposal doesn’t feel as natural to me. I’ve had decent success at it in the past with Endless Beautiful. Carolyn and I put together a few proposals two years ago and we were awarded grants for both of those. There’s an added layer of complexity (several actually) for the PCVI Summer Writing Series grant. Everything was in-house for EB. This grant involves fiscal sponsors, radio campaigns, space arrangements, and a bunch of …

Read more

I met with the director of the Providence Clemente Veterans’ Initiative, Mark Santow, yesterday to discuss details for a summer writing course that I’m planning. Mark is a connection-making and planning machine! It’s such a great opportunity to work with the instructors and planners of PCVI. I’m applying what I’ve learned so far in the URI Master’s of Adult Education program in so many ways already. And well, let’s just say this PCVI business is personal. Writing about my experiences in Iraq was a critical watershed moment for me, but I also did it largely on my own, outside the …

Read more

Our week-long vacation in Florida ended up being very productive in terms of writing. I was able to generate drafts for 2 stories. I finished up another one the weekend we came back. I hit the first story relatively hard because I want to use it as an example for my Providence Clemente Veterans’ Initiative students this spring. My finished manuscript for the story “Egmont Key Ferry” ended up being a little under 1700 words. It’s told in the simple present tense, which I haven’t used an awful lot in the past, but I found the pacing to be wonderful. …

Read more