A new essay Etched Onyx Magazine published a piece I’ve been working on since 2017. Early in the new year, the magazine will add two audio complements: an interview with me about the piece and a recording of me reading it. Rest assured, I will let you know. In the meanwhile, enjoy a short but challenging trip to China.

AVOID PLOT HOLES, EVEN OUT PACING, CREATE WHOLENESS Here’s my idea: literally create spread sheet. In the first column, invent a name for the scene. In the second, enter the first sentence. Third: enter the final sentence. New line: name the scene. The first line of the scene should reflect…

The Blog Tour continues to wind down — - Block out a large swath of reading time when you open this novel; I didn’t want to put the book down, absolutely needing to know what would happen next. — Karen Siddall Read Karen’s full review here. Also: Madeline Sharples had me blog about the link between creativity and trauma: Trauma sits like a stone over the part of the brain that stimulates creativity, squashing it. Children who grow up affected by trauma use their creativity primarily to stay alive. Adult survivors often report that they can no longer focus, that they find it difficult to motivate themselves. That is trauma, clamping down. And there go creative impulses.

My first book group for ‘As Far as You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back.’ Eight people — eight!!! — attended an in-person event of book group that has met for years and years and years. Chris made brisket. Luther made baked delicate squash, and Julie managed purple cabbage salad somehow not bitter. I started by saying, “I’ve just spent the past eight months promoting…

By which I mean: a literal rejection letter. The answer is five. Whether you hope to publish short pieces or a book, get together a list*** of five places you want to submit. Send out. As you wait for a response — could be months! — get together a second list of five. Send those out. With ten…

A Review and an Interview Some talk about fashion; lots of talk about writing and about As Far as You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back Have you always hoped to have a career as a writer? I was passionate about several careers, but I didn’t have it…

With an interview and flash essay The essay is on the blog Freeing the Butterfly. It’s about spirituality and healing, with some travel thrown in. On Jill Sheet’s blog, we have Chit Chatting with Alle C. Hall Jill: You won the Richard Hugo House New Works Competition. What was that like? Alle: It was the first prize I won for my writing; the first prize I’d won for anything since winning a dance-off in the fifth grade

The Blog Tour continues! Fun questions as well as serious from Lisa Haselton: What would you say is your interesting writing quirk? I make mini-dioramas (aka: dollhousing) of scenes from As Far as You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back, or from the backstory. Also, a thoughtful review with unique insights and a personal angle on The Mommies’ Reviews: Here is a tip that might surprise you: there is a lot of humor in this book, which helped me finish the story. Counselors should keep a copy of this book on their shelves and all libraries should have multiple copies.

for As Far as You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back — A 5-Star Review by Crystal J. Casavant-Otto — scroll waaaaaaay down! Inspiring and very well written. There is a trigger warning for child sexual abuse, every addiction you can imagine, and suicide — and if that doesn’t take you too far out of your comfort zone — you’ll love this book! Also, an excerpt on Just Katherine — again, scroll waaaaaaaaaaaay down.