
The creative process is a process of surrender, not control.
—Julia Cameron
This is where I share reflections on the writing life—notes from Radiant, creative process insights, and glimpses of the long road between stories.
Recent Posts
- A Piece of Radiant
- The Power of Returning
- Suddenly Summer
- Summer’s Promise
- Dog Days: She’s Back!
- Through the Fog
- Sandcastles at Sunset
- Three Novels, One Desk
- The Shortest Day
- Book Three is DONE!
- Birthday Girls and Cheerleaders
- Dog Days: Christmas Sweaters!
- On Doubt. And Rejection. And General Suckiness.
- My Final Post About the Weather
- All Right, Mother Nature. You can stop showing off now!
- Becoming Ourselves
- A Rut? Or Just Home?
- A Tale of Two Trees
- Drive On, Young Woman
- Six Cents
- A Quiet Goodbye to November
- A Good Day: On family, football, and finally beating that team up north
- Getting Sober Didn’t Just Save My Life—It Made Me a Writer
- My Typical Writing Habit
- Dog Days: Lessons from Daphne
- Seven Nights, One Mountain
- Dog Days: Holiday Edition
- Thanksgiving Morn: Light at the Door
- The Science of Snoozing
- Giving Thanks in Tough Times
- Behind the Smile: Art, Identity, and the Power of Telling Your Own Story
- Jojo’s Notebook: Poems from the Margin, Volume 3
- Living in Limbo
- Dog Days: Notes from the Den
- Writer’s Retreat
- Surface
- On the Road . . .
- How Jojo Found Me
- What’s Playing?
- Dear Alice
- Lessons from a Maple
- Dear Jojo
- What Happened
- The Lowdown: What it’s Like to Die
- Jojo’s Notebook: Poems from the Margin, Part 2
- Morning Seven of Eight
- For Benji:
- Spring Roses in Winter
- To Ezra, from Jojo.
- Morning in the Valley
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EMILY GIRARD | FICTION WRITER
All photos © Emily Bump Girard, taken in the Shenandoah Valley




















































