Another school visit to Rhonda Howard’s classes at Carmichael and I know spring is really on the way. I can see it in the eager flip flops and shorts, as well as in the trees about to burst to bloom. And despite all the sad news from independent bookstores in the last few months, I’m encouraged because I got to visit a community of readers!

What do students want to know? “How do you make yourself stick with it, to write until the end of the story?” And I tell them sometimes it’s sheer plod, sitting and staring down the computer even when you don’t feel inspired. Sometimes it’s just about showing up and putting a few words on paper, or rewriting everything you did yesterday. It’s not glamorous; it’s really an act of faith like watering the seeds in the garden even before you see the first sprouts of green.