The Serious Value of Silliness
Lessons from my inner five-year-old You may have noticed that the world is kind of a mess lately. Lately, as in the past five years, or the past 30, or the past 500. Climate change, pandemic, the disastrous end of a…
Jan M Flynn
Writer, educator, audiobook narrator, horse whisperer (but they don't always listen to me), and above all, compulsive reader.
Dear Stacey Abrams, I Can Explain
I am about to register as a Republican. It’s not what you think Ms. Abrams, you are one of my heroes. If the world were a degree more rational or just, you would be governor of Georgia right now. The 2018…
Life is a Road Trip
Thinking of it that way is my key to sanity This week, I confess I have fallen into error It’s a mistake I have made, alas, many times over. It has to do with taking myself seriously. That leads to brooding…
Allow Me to Explain
Regarding wombats, unicycles, karma, and kitchen sinks There’s a reason you’re looking at a wombat I can explain. As you may know, I also write on Medium.com (you can find me there using the search bar under my profile, @janmflynn1537).…
The Job You Really Want
It’s less about you than you might think My husband, an actor, landed the role he’d pined for It was a leading-man part he’d wanted to play for years, one he knew he was right for but that would challenge…
Can We Come Out Now?
Ready or not, it’s a different world My friends and I take a table outside and scan the posted QR code Three-dimensional menus are largely a casualty of the pandemic. It’s a small but pervasive shift, one of the reminders that…
How I (Mostly) Cured My Claustrophobia
It helped to realize space does not equal room The flight was full and I had the center seat My heart had begun jackhammering the moment the doors closed. The soothing pull of gravity during takeoff, its effect like a…
Can We Potty Talk?
Your butt could be better off If you’re American, your derriere is in danger of neglect My fellow American, I feel quite safe in this assumption. Why? Because as much time and energy as you devote to keeping your house,…
Getting to The End
It’s time to show that rough draft who’s boss I can’t be the only writer this happens to The project you’re working on might be your first, or your forty-first novel. You may have a detailed outline, even a scene-by-scene breakdown.…