On Top of It

  • On Top of It #20: Dancing/Balls

    On Top of It #20 by Lisa Martens Dancing/Balls I spent the weekend at the PURE dance conference, and one panel discussed intimacy and dance . . . and quickly became a discussion about why some people seem to hate when women embrace their femininity and own the stage, especially if said woman is not… Continue reading

  • On Top of It #19: Diving for iPhones

    On Top of It #19 by Lisa Martens Diving for iPhones, and Other Things You may know that I offer a weekly blog for The Drunken Odyssey every Monday, but what you probably don’t know is that I usually write my post the night before it is scheduled for release, which, for any of you… Continue reading

  • On Top of It #18: Loans and Indoor Rock Climbing

    On Top of It #18 by Lisa Martens Loans and Indoor Rock Climbing What do repaying loans and indoor rock climbing have in common? I’m terrified of both. I have the upper body strength of a T-Rex and two liberal arts degrees from New York institutions. Your girl is in trouble on both fronts. I… Continue reading

  • On Top of It #17: A Lesson in Humility and Tone

    On Top of It #17 by Lisa Martens A Lesson in Humility and Tone: Talia Jane This weekend, the Internet caught fire with Talia Jane, a Yelp customer support representative who wrote a public, scathing letter to the CEO of her company and, of course, was fired soon after. I agree with a higher minimum… Continue reading

  • On Top of It #16: Letting Go of Holden

    On Top of It #16 by Lisa Martens Letting Go of Holden The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody’d move. You could go there a hundred thousand times, and that Eskimo would still be just finished catching those two fish, the birds would still be… Continue reading

  • On Top of It #15: Freelance Growing Pains

    On Top of It #15 by Lisa Martens Freelance Growing Pains I now have two jobs, neither of which really have to do with creative writing—I do customer support for a dating site, and manage reservations for a belly dancing school. I’ve seen lots of dick pics and shimmies. While in grad school, I attempted… Continue reading

  • On Top of It #14: Thank You, Jonas

      On Top of It #14 by Lisa Martens I’ve been working two jobs, trying to heal myself with Reiki, eating low carb, and pumping myself full of positive thoughts. It’s that kind of 2016. I’m filled with that hopeful optimism that comes with the idea of a fresh start–quite like writers starting a new book.… Continue reading

  • On Top of It #13: Which Way?

    On Top of It #13 by Lisa Martens Which Way? I now have a 60,000-word manuscript on my computer, and so I am faced with a problem I’ve had for years: Do I submit to a ton of agents and receive form letters from their interns while my writing sits on my hard drive, or… Continue reading

  • On Top of It #12: No One Cares What You Write

    On Top of It #12 by Lisa Martens No One Cares What You Write As an MFA student, a writer, and an occasional blogger, I’ve met a lot of other aspiring writers. Most are beaming with hope, stewing with bitterness, and take pride in not having their shit together. And a good deal of them… Continue reading

  • On Top of It #11: Resolutions and Hope or Something

    On Top of It #11 by Lisa Martens Resolutions and Hope or Something After reading “the life-changing magic of tidying up,” (intentional ee cummings-esque lower case letters), I decided to apply Marie Kondo’s strategies to my own cube. One of the exercises is, of course, to get rid of your crap. Kondo has a gentler… Continue reading

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The Drunken Odyssey is a forum to discuss all aspects of the writing process, in a variety of genres, in order to foster a greater community among writers.

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