the illusion of solitude i am not a social person. if given the choice, i prefer solitude. even so, i worry, sometimes, about loneliness, that unintended consequence of too much solitude. or, of solitude when one might prefer not to be alone. but today, when i was walking by the water, the great blue heron… Continue reading By the Water: Entry 8
turtle bones and The Return of the King...
spring rolls over the lake, with fresh damp air, blackbirds, and new thoughts.
I recently paid $40+ for a used paperback book. I wasn't required to buy it for any reason. And no, it wasn't a college textbook. (That'd be a steal!) It was a book I was very much interested in reading, that was not available through my library, and that was out of print. So I… Continue reading The Value of a Book
I am thrilled to announce to you beautiful humans that I'm launching a new project!
One of the most difficult parts in processing my late autism identification and diagnosis (at 30 years old) is dealing with a constantly shifting perspective, specifically in comparing how I function in the world and how non-autistic people function in it. I spent my whole life assuming my way of being was "normal" or neurotypical,… Continue reading Querying While Autistic
I'm thrilled to be officially querying a brand new manuscript in hope of agent representation! It's titled THE VIOLET TAMARIND and you can read more about it and see a gorgeous mood board one of my beta readers made for it here. But Allison (asked almost no one), whatever happened to that post-apocalyptic science-fiction novel… Continue reading Where Do Novels Go When No Agent Wants Them?
I was diagnosed with autism and inattentive ADHD in November 2020. Almost immediately after I found this out, I realized I hated saying that sentence, especially the "diagnosed with" part. I am still getting used to, "I am autistic," but through those words, I feel a sense of pride and relief: they help me know myself more fully. "Diagnosed with" never sat well, and as time goes on, it's sitting worse and worse and worse.
Getting beta feedback can make all the difference in your manuscript, but it can be difficult to organize the feedback you get. Microsoft Word can actually help with that! Here's a tutorial on merging comments and tracked changes from multiple readers into one Word file.
I knew I was autistic. So why did I bother getting assessed?
