On October 30, 2010, my dear friend and fellow writing group member Tina Hoggatt gave me a nudge in the ribs to try NaNoWriMo — National Novel Writing Month. 32 days later, I had a 50,000-word first draft of a novel based loosely on the lives of my paternal grandfather, Umberto, and his brother, Amedeo. [...]
Mark Nassutti
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Another Writer’s Digest award
I feel very lucky to have won a second award from Writer’s Digest. In 2010, my personal essay “The Decision Tree” won third prize in the annual Writer’s Digest writing competition. In the fall of 2011, another essay titled “Telling Him” won “honorable mention.” Separately, the essay “Telling Him” was a finalist in the Pacific [...]
Thank you, Artist Trust
Earlier this fall I found out I won a grant from Artist Trust. Wow! I won $1,500 to fund continuing research on my historical novel. I will use the funds to help pay the expenses of doing another research trip to Trieste. Not sure when I’ll go, maybe May 2012. The Artist Trust program is [...]
Twenty-Six and the Ugliest Cake
I feel vaguely guilty whenever I leave this bench. It’s a white bench, made of marble. It sits along a pathway through the campus of a private school in a suburb of Seattle. On one side of the horizontal slab, black carved letters in a swooshy font spell out my son’s name. His birth date. [...]
Finalist
I received a very nice phone call Saturday. The caller was Pam Binder, of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association. She told me that one of my essays, “Telling Him,” is a finalist in the PNWA’s annual writing contest, in the Short Adult Topics category. I’ll find out exactly where I finish when I attend the [...]
Monkey Knuckles
For some reason, the absence of light of any color coming from my laptop’s battery charger catches my eye near the end of my workday. I jiggle it. Nothing. I look at my battery indicator. 12% and draining. I jiggle the charger in the wall socket. Nothing. My brain pops memories of the thing starting [...]
Over the EDGE
Since early February, I’ve been spending my Saturdays locked in a conference room at Seattle Pacific University with 14 other writers. We were selected to participate in the EDGE professional development program for artists managed by Artist Trust in Seattle. On March 26, we graduate, and you’re invited. From 1 to 4 pm Saturday, each [...]
Marketing and Ministry
I’ve finally concluded that my high school guidance counselor was right, about one thing. When I was a junior at Aragon High School in San Mateo, CA, Mr. Franceschi called me in to talk about college. My PSAT scores were good, my grades were pretty good, but I hadn’t given any thought to college. He [...]
Prayer Post 5: An Agnostic’s Prayer Travel Kit
A few days before the end of my 17-day test period, I daydreamed about a ritual and a home shrine to facilitate my prayer. It really helped me to have a dedicated place, my Chair, described in Prayer Post 3. When I was down on my knees in front of that Chair, the burning candle [...]
Prayer Part 4: This Agnostic Gets Down on His Knees
First thing you do, get down on your knees. If you want prayer to work for you, I believe you have to get down on your knees. On your knees, you will feel humble, and I believe you have to practice humility as a precondition to getting any benefit from prayer. You have to humble [...]