I Got Fired

By Ann Garvin / January 31, 2023 /
I got fired

I Got Fired. [Tweet “I Got Fired”] This is not a new story, but it is a true story. Several years ago, I blissfully, joyfully, dream-come-true-fully-taught creative writing in a Master of Fine Arts program in New Hampshire and I got fired. Unceremoniously and without cause, I was let the F-go. The phone rang at…

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I’m A Nice Lady, I Promise.

By Ann Garvin / January 17, 2024 /
I promise I'm a nice lady but...

I’m a nice lady, I promise. Remember me? That nice lady whose email newsletter you signed up for and then stopped writing it. I promised an essay a month, book recommendations, writing and reading retreat announcements, and a few choice words about things that bug me because that’s what besties talk about. Not to be…

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Cinderella Under Pressure

By Ann Garvin / August 23, 2023 /

Cinderella Under Pressure. I write books about women who do too much in a world that asks too much from them, and I saw one of these women just the other day. The woman I am thinking of was at a gas station, responding with incredible grace and dignity while under great duress. After filling…

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Are you haphazard too?

By Ann Garvin / July 10, 2023 /

Are you haphazard too? I tend to be a little haphazard. Is it me, or can we blame it on the world we live in? I like to blame the culture for all my misremembering, overdrafts, and wrong turns. Otherwise, my free time is spent taking Alzheimer’s quizzes and asking my daughter if it’s time…

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Day Dream Believer

By Ann Garvin / May 30, 2023 /

Ann Garvin 2004 Official Participant Number: #130 Title: Daydream Believer Word Count: 1,400   This was her last Friday night, Dog & Suds, Arf and Barf, dinner-and-a-movie special at the Drive All Night Drive-In. No more wiener jokes; “Hey Jen, can I ride my baloney barge into your bun?” Goodbye, dick heads trying to cop…

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The Two-Word Heart of You

By Ann Garvin / April 26, 2023 /

The Two-Word Heart of You I met Paulina Porizkova (yes the supermodel) at an event this past month. In 1984, she became the first Central European woman to appear on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. She was eighteen. She looks the same. No, I’m sorry, she’s more beautiful, and more importantly, she…

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Trust Me On This

By Ann Garvin / March 15, 2023 /
Trust me on this

Trust Me On This Remember in High School, that girl, woman at your school that you couldn’t take your eyes off of? No one could, and like it or not, everyone saw her the way you did. Parents, teachers, the principal and every single boy or man in the school. I fault no one on…

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Ann Garvin’s Teaching and Conference Schedule

By Ann Garvin / January 12, 2023 /
teaching and conferences

2023 Ann Garvin’s Teaching and Presenting Schedule.   How To Prepare The Perfect Pitch Feb. 24-26 womenwritersretreat.com  Virtual Online Weekend Writing Retreat With Mollie McClure, Jacquelyn Mitchard, Karen Dionne, and Folio Lit Agency     Plotting and Story Workshop March 10-12 Zibby Owen’s Fierce Women Retreat Hampton Bays, NY   How To Plot With Ease…

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I Want People To Feel Better About Being Human.

By Ann Garvin / January 8, 2023 /
Human, stories, chunnel, feel better

I want people to feel better about being human. I just do. Being human is untidy—we’re inconsistent, moody, and, depending on the day, a little too gassy. And sometimes, we can’t keep any of that to ourselves. All of this can lead to embarrassment and sometimes shame, and seriously I don’t want that for you…

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Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

By Ann Garvin / November 4, 2022 /
Soulmate, flower,

Where do you get your ideas? It’s come to my attention lately that people are concerned about me. The concern isn’t health-related—my body is the best thing I’ve ever gotten for free. Occasionally, however, I do joke about my relationship status and I realize they are concerned because I’m single. I often regale listeners with…

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