Pioneertown Publishes Oblong, IL Poems

Postcard  of Oblong, Illinois
from Penny Postcards from Illinois

pioneertown. has published a selection from my memoir that revolves around Oblong, Illinois, the village where my father grew up in the 1940s, many years before my arrival in the 1980s.

You can read the pieces here or copy/paste this link into your browser:
http://www.pioneertownlit.com/oblong-illinois

The pieces are from my memoir, tentatively entitled The Girl's Made of Bone. 

Compassion, Writing, and Running--Not in That Order

Photograph by Erin Pringle-Toungate.
CC license, please attribute accordingly

The fine people over at Howlarium recently asked writers about meditation, compassion, and writing as part of their series in which writers respond to, in my experience, complicated thoughts. As I've begun training for a half-marathon, having never been a serious runner, and as I'm experiencing the feelings that come with having a toddler who, quite often, finds my advice not simply incorrect but mildly reprehensible, this was my response:

http://www.howlarium.com/