The Writer's Notebook

“A writer’s notebook is not a diary. Writers react. Writers need a place to record these reactions. That’s what a writer’s notebook is for. It gives you a place to write down what makes you angry or sad or amazed, to write down what you noticed and don’t want to forget. A writer’s notebook gives you a place to live like a writer.” - Ralph Fletcher

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Where I've Been

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The Artfully Woven Layers of Joyce Wu’s Filmmaking

The Artfully Woven Layers of Joyce Wu’s Filmmaking

I could tell you Joyce Wu’s film She Lights Up Wellis about a Chinese ­American actress struggling to find her voice in a creative world plagued by subtle, and not­ so ­subtle, racism. I could point to the scenes tackling this racism directly, and the scenes creatively alluding to it. I could even spend a paragraph on our hero, Sophie—played by Wu—wrestling with the cognitive barriers of race…

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Working Through History

The journalist joked that when he took a short nap he’d missed a few breaking news stories. All the other journalists on the New York Times podcast laughed though their exhaustion.

If this presidency were an animal it would be bleeding from a few serious wounds right now.

Reporters and on air personalities are devising creative, near poetic ways to express their fresh bewilderment with every…

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The Mourning After is Now Available in Paperback! She told me she could read palms, immediately grabbed my hand and started analyzing my lines.

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Poetry Editor

I’ve been reading poetry submissions for Moran Pressfor about six months. Now Stephen Moran has asked me to work directly with poets whose work we’ve accepted. I, of course, suggested a chat group, because I love chat groups: the goal of the group being to incubate new poetry, to learn from and nurture each other’s work. I’m very excited to get started, and today is day one. Wish me some poetic…

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Notes From My Convalescence

Notes From My Convalescence

Needless to say, the past few years have taken a toll on me. After the election disaster, finally, my physical health began to falter. Doctors began having the kinds of conversations with me they had never had before. Approaching forty-five: overweight and overstressed with a family history of high blood pressure and diabetes. Not smart, poet.

So I fell into a hibernation of sorts: cut down on…

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Preorder my microchap UNTIL THE FOXES out with @ghostcitypress 7/30 https://gumroad.com/l/untilthefoxes

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Until The Foxes

GCP 041 - C.M. Keehl. Published July 30th, 2016. Micro-Chapbook. ** This micro-chapbook is a part of the 2016 Ghost City Press Summer Micro-Chap Series. All donations made for this title will go directly to the author.

MY FIRST CHAP!!!!!! Guys please read it! I spilled my guts & hope you like it or hate it or just read it!

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More Than Just Survival: A Review of Natalie Johns’ Documentary I Am Thalente

His skateboard was, in childhood, how his mind survived the terrifying experienes he describes. So painful are these anecdotes, they often lead the audience to see Thalente as that heroic loner we all long to be, only to remind us repeatedly how much time and emotional energy others have invested in his struggle. This varying cast of supporting characters, who all see something of themselves in this lost boy, selflessly move to help him in whatever way they can.

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Like the Water not only passes this test, the film highlights how comfortable we’ve become with Hollywood films that fail it miserably. Watch it on Seed&Spark today and adjust your movie perspective.

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I could tell you Joyce Wu’s film She Lights Up Wellis about a Chinese ­American actress struggling to find her voice in a creative world plagued by subtle, and not­ so ­subtle, racism. I could point to the scenes tackling this racism directly, and the scenes creatively alluding to it. I could even spend a paragraph on our hero, Sophie—played by Wu—wrestling with the cognitive barriers of race relations while training actors at a local theater. In fact, I could easily focus on any one of those points and develop it into a full review that compels you to see She Lights Up Well.Because you shouldsee this film.The Artfully Woven Layers of Joyce Wu's She Lights Up Well

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Charlie (Caitlin FitzGerald) is confronted by mortality with the loss of her best friend. She returns home to Camden, Maine to write the eulogy – grappling with grief in its rawest, ugliest, truest form.

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Cooking with Cedric Hill #njpoet

Cooking with Cedric Hill #njpoet

Cedric stops by with his laptop, a notebook, and a zip lock bag containing the blend of spices he mixed especially for dinner.

“Today, I’m gonna teach you how to make cumin rubbed steak,” he says, making me smell the bag as he explains what’s in it.

He takes a moment to express just how delicious this meal will be. Then he closes his eyes, smacks his lips, and savors the idea of eating cumin…

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Seemingly Optimistic

Friends and family have noticed that my mood is lighter, that I smile more, that I’m suddenly interested in things I’ve never been interested in before—like cooking myself a fine meal, or shopping around for comfortable suits.

Other people say they’re glad my decades of depression are finally lifting, that I’m finally starting to care about myself, and my appearance. As if my wardrobe and my diet…

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Say Uncle, Part 1 #njpoet

Say Uncle, Part 1 #njpoet

for Nick

I’ve never felt that tug to become a father that other men talk about. In my early twenties, in fact, I was so panicked about accidental pregnancy that I became a genius of birth control. I kept secret notes about my sexual partner’s ovulation cycle. I refused to have sex during what I considered the risky week, even if she was on the pill, and if there were no condoms in the apartment…

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To Live and Almost Die in Traffic #njpoet

To Live and Almost Die in Traffic #njpoet

Today our daily sight of traffic carnage was a mid-sized sedan flipped over, smashed and smoking, blocking three of the four lanes heading in the opposite direction. A team of paramedics, firefighters, and police were busy scraping bits of machinery and people off the road. The traffic jam of parked cars piled up behind them stretched to the horizon and beyond.

The traffic jam on our side cleared…

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Twitter for Reading #njpoet

Twitter for Reading #njpoet

I used to skim five newspapers every day, digesting all the headlines and reading up on developing stories.

“An educated person should read the newspapers every day,” lectured my Economics professor in college. “That is part of your responsibility as an educated person.”

I took that lesson seriously. Since then, I’ve been skimming my local paper, The Newark Star Ledger, and national papers—The…

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