Simple Saturday

Varian Johnson and Jennifer Taylor, two incredible Austin writers now have their MFAs from Vermont College! Woo Hoo! This is no small feat, I assure you. A bunch of us scurried down to Waterloo to celebrate their monumental accomplishment. As always, there is great pictoral review of the event on the Cynsations blog.

Varian's Saving Maddie is coming out in March. I was honored to get to hear a juicy piece of it during his graduate reading this summer. It is good...believe me. Really good.

Jennifer and I shared many a marvelous moment deep in discussion regarding her critical thesis. You see, Jen was hurricaned from her Galveston home at precisely the time she was about to begin the tough stuff needed to complete that monster. Undaunted and determined, Jen finished that masterpiece on time! No whining. No crying. (Oh, maybe just a tear or two...) Witnessing Jennifer's diligent resolve formed a soft spot in the folds of my heart just for her.

I am so proud of these two brilliant writers and am proud to call them my friends.