The Story Deserves to Be Told

Matt looking out the airplane window

I almost quit. After months of writing, editing, sharing vulnerable stories from my life, and getting nothing but silence from literary agents, I sat at my desk and thought, Maybe this is it. Maybe no one cares. But that’s not the whole story. I’ve done everything they say you’re supposed to do. I broke through … Read more

Let the Readers Feel the Fight

The Sedona Room is my writing oasis. An artist hand painted a sunrise over Cathedral Rock across the walls and ceiling, wrapping the room in warm desert hues, reds and oranges and blues stretching overhead while I sit with my feet kicked up on the couch, air conditioning humming, trying to make sense of fifteen … Read more

Rejection, Walt Disney’s Swamp, and My Own Crossroads

Walt Disney pointing at a map of Florida.

I woke up to another rejection email today. It was polite, almost too polite: Thank you for responding to us. We appreciate your platform and mission. However, after delving a bit more into the market, we could see this project isn’t quite a fit for us. We decline with the greatest respect and deepest regret. … Read more

Monster in a Box: Taming the Digital Dilemma of Unfinished Work

Gerard and I were back at our usual lunch spot, sandwiches from Al’s, the window open to the noise of State Street, when he set his phone down on the desk between us and hit play on a grainy clip of a man in a red and blue checkered shirt sitting alone at a table … Read more