Sometimes – when I’m walking or showering or folding the laundry – a phrase begins to rotate in my head. Subconsciously, words pull into an almost sentence and play three-card monte. Punctuation joins the party; commas insert themselves while periods delete. Verbs disappear to create powerful auditory punches. Ellipses and em dashes decide the pauses.Continue reading “Playing with words”
Author Archives: Caroline Mitchell Carrico
Flu
I am excruciatingly bad at being sick. My brain cannot comprehend that my body can be felled by a microscopic virus turning pirouettes among my cells. To be more accurate: I’m bad at being mildly ill. The under the weather when the symptoms are fatigue and chills but lack a fever or gastrointestinal distress. I’mContinue reading “Flu”
Leap taking
Yesterday, I sent out my first four query letters to agents. It’s a scary concept, putting myself out there like that. Nobody likes rejection, and I am intentionally putting myself in the path of it. There’s no formula, no guarantees, no easy way out of this one. If I want this, which I do, IContinue reading “Leap taking”
Away and Towards
It’s been two months since I stepped away from my career as I’ve known it. Away from managing concurrent multi-year projects. Away from organizing and archiving and writing within prescribed boundaries. Away from cramming dinner and homework and errands and soccer and and and into small blocks of hours. Towards walking my kids home fromContinue reading “Away and Towards”
A Draft
Yesterday, I finished the draft of my middle grade novel. It’s a little over 19,000 words with 20 chapters. It’s the single longest thing I’ve ever written, and I anticipate that it will get a little longer by the time I finish revising. I don’t know everything it needs yet or how many revisions itContinue reading “A Draft”
A special anniversary
August 5 is special. It’s not a birthday or my wedding date. It’s not a religious or secular holiday for me. The weather is often brutally hot, and it’s always during the rush to get the kids ready for the beginning of the school year. Yet, no matter what else is going on, it’s aContinue reading “A special anniversary”
Comforting Sounds
Pitter-patter shifting to a steady thrum then downgrading to distinguishable plinks. While a kettle gently rocks its way to a whistle. And the air conditioner purrs in the background. Dry calm in the middle of a most welcome storm.
New and scary and wonderful
For many years, as long as my husband has known me at the very least, I have wanted to write a book. I haven’t had a plot or a research question or a compelling personal exploration in mind, but I have had an unrelenting whisper in the back of my mind that I want toContinue reading “New and scary and wonderful”
Starts
I have started so many writing projects without ever writing the elusive words “The End.” The evidence hit me in the face yesterday. I spent the afternoon cleaning up my digital spaces – reclaiming 1 gigabyte of storage by deleting emails and sorting my Google Drive into submission. As I compiled bits and pieces ofContinue reading “Starts”
Garrett + Sofia
My youngest not-so-little brother is getting married in a few short hours. To a remarkable, kind, funny, smart, talented woman who I am thrilled is becoming my sister. It’s an amazing thing when your family grows. I was reminded at last night’s rehearsal dinner as I overheard members of discrete groups – some of whichContinue reading “Garrett + Sofia”
Caroline Mitchell Carrico 