Welcome.

 Thanks for visiting my blog, Dr. Sasslyn’s Thoughts.

A little about the name — when I was in Hamline’s MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults, my cohort found out that I had a PhD. They encouraged me to embrace my Dr. They also saw me go from a shy, quiet, not talking person in the back row, to a strong individual with a lot of opinions. Thus, my nickname was born. Dr. Sasslyn. 

I hope to post every two weeks or so with a combination of opinions about the world, writing thoughts, book observations and an on-going discussion of my favorite — verse novels and poetry. I hope you’ll come back and check it out!

Emmy In the Key of Code

Emmy In the Key of Code

I remember the moment when Aimee Lucido told me she had an idea for a verse novel.  “Something with coding, cause it’s like music and poetry, and a young girl.”  I think that’s what she said. We were standing outside of our workshop during residency at the Hamline MFA...

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Writing White

Writing White

I’m struggling with a writing issue. I’m deep into a revision of my verse novel. I wrote the initial draft quickly during NANOWRIMO – it was no where near 50K words, but folks, it’s poetry.  As I dig through this first really big revision, I’m starting to see...

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The Start of What I Learned From When They See Us

The Start of What I Learned From When They See Us

I’m 45. Soon to be 46. When the Central Park jogger case happened, I was a junior in high school. I’m also white. And yes, that’s important to know. Here’s what I remembered: Wilding – scary thing happening with young men in Central Park. Young black men were accused....

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Upon Waking: 58 Voices from the Shadow of Abuse

Upon Waking: 58 Voices from the Shadow of Abuse

I’m excited to announce the publication of an anthology – Upon Waking: 58 Voices from the Shadow of Abuse. One of those voices, is mine. Two of my poems are included – “The Child Knows No” and “In Which I Sue for Memory and Associated Damages.” I’m honored and proud...

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Making Defining

Making Defining

I told my therapist last week, as we admired the pretty picture of Defining on my phone, writing it was a little bit like vomiting up word nails. Now, as I read it, I understand those words spell out some bad shit. Sad shit. Some trauma. But do you know what I see?...

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My Poetry Obsession – The Acrostic

My Poetry Obsession – The Acrostic

I’m a huge fan of form poetry. Sestinas. Pantoums. Haiku. But lately, it’s been acrostic – all day, all the time. Acrostics are fascinating. Basically, the first letter of each line spells out a name, a word, a message. We usually encounter acrostics when we’re in...

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How Ms. Shimkus and Pre-Calc Taught Me About Me

How Ms. Shimkus and Pre-Calc Taught Me About Me

This one’s not about writing. Not exactly anyway. But it is about me. And a lesson I learned a long time ago. I was sixteen and in Pre-Calc. My junior year of high school. Math was never my best subject and I hated it. It was like a strange language and I...

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Vomiting the Poems Up

Vomiting the Poems Up

Some of my poems deal with my own traumatic experiences. I get the question often - how do I write about my trauma? Before I answer that question, let’s talk about what it’s like BEFORE a traumatic memory becomes a poem. Phase One: I start to feel anxious....

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My Black Lives Matter Sign

My Black Lives Matter Sign

This was first published as a guest column in the Prescott Journal on June 28, 2018 under the title, “I Still Have a Black Lives Matter Sign.” You might wonder why I’m including this on a writer/poet blog. A more political blog. Here’s why. My moral core – my belief...

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Welcome.

 Thanks for visiting my blog, DR. SASSLYN’S LOG/BLOG! 

... read more

A little about the name — when I was in Hamline’s MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults, my cohort found out that I had a PhD. They encouraged me to embrace my Dr. They also saw me go from a shy, quiet, not talking person in the back row, to a strong individual with a lot of opinions. Thus, my nickname was born. Dr. Sasslyn. 

I hope to post every two weeks or so with a combination of opinions about the world, writing thoughts, book observations and an on-going discussion of my favorite — verse novels and poetry. I hope you’ll come back and check it out!

Latest Posts:

Listen

Listen

I was asked, what I thought, an easy question recently. “What is one thing I’ve learned in 2020 about being anti-racist.” Yes! Right! I’ve got this. Right? What hasn’t 2020 taught me? I mean, if you are existing in 2020, how can you not learn about being anti-racist? ...

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Twitter Accounts I Love

Twitter Accounts I Love

Friends – it’s been a LONG time, hasn’t it? Your world and mine has both shifted dramatically – or has it just made more of us see what was always there?  I thought to warm up to new blogs, I’d share my favorites on Twitter to educate myself on issue that are...

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Liquor Acrostics and More featured on in parentheses

Liquor Acrostics and More featured on in parentheses

Remember how I said how much I loved acrostics? Turns out the editors at in parentheses do too! They’ve published four acrostics and a fifth poem of mine on their blog last month. I hope you will check these out! And the in parentheses is a great resource for exciting...

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Emmy In the Key of Code

Emmy In the Key of Code

I remember the moment when Aimee Lucido told me she had an idea for a verse novel.  “Something with coding, cause it’s like music and poetry, and a young girl.”  I think that’s what she said. We were standing outside of our workshop during residency at the Hamline MFA...

read more

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