A high school boy once told me, "Your eyes are so navy, they're almost black, except when you've been crying. Then they're pretty." I've thought of this random, throw-away comment EVERY TIME I've gone out in public post-crying for twenty years. (So not thaaat often; I'm not much of a crier. I'm more apt to grab a pen or a baseball bat than a tissue, but nonetheless, EVERY TIME it applies, I hear it.) We're all walking around with these long-ago-spoken, unsolicited remarks, whether we're aware of them or not -- the compliments, insults, back-handed-something-or-others that burrow in our brain, crafting one brick in the complex building of Moi. In early story development, writers are tasked with creating characters' unique lists. What did someone say about her voice, her hair, her height, the way she ate, the way she laughed, the way she walked, the way she didn't hesitate to speak her mind... until she did? What remarks -- lovely, encouraging, innocuous, seemingly innocuous, confusing, annoying, hurtful, detrimental, dangerous, cruel, trajectory-changing -- does she still hear? Do we still hear? Do we still serve up like a pastry or a poison to the characters in our lives? As writers, we're most interested in the slippery, conflicted, strange ones. The ones that linger, in part, because they're puzzling. (Did he want me to cry?) #amwriting #writinglife #abbeyclelandlopez #writeon ...

By the time I finished it, sunlight flooded my office, distorting this photo so serendipitously my mane's roots actually appear the color God Herself intended, and my beloved @_rachblack of @citrinehairandskin achieves. 👑 Anyway. Ask any screenwriter. Few highs top that dopey, delicious "FADE TO BLACK" high. I won't know this baby's strengths and weaknesses for weeks, but we won't focus on that today.

Today, Mama will be tired, but happy.

#abbeyclelandlopez #montague ...

Challenge accepted. @chefserenapoon 💓💪🏼👑💡✌🏼 I remember this moment from 2019. I silently recited (my own unique witchy version of) a prayer for a dear friend struggling with infertility, then wished my pending pap results would be normal. Soon after this shot, she became pregnant, and my results were perfectly normal. Even when it's HARD, like really really f'ing HARD, I've always revelled in being a girl/woman. I'm not even sure what exactly that means/implies, but I know, in my bones, my soul, it's a source of joy, empowerment, and creative expression for me. I pray everyone on the planet can derive this kind of happiness and rootedness in their identity. EVERYONE deserves that. #empoweringwomen #womensupportingwomen #womenempowerment #womeninspiringwomen #abbeyclelandlopez #womenwriters #womenwritersofinstagram ...

Last night, approaching 3am. "The hard is what makes it great." I've always liked the quote ( #jimmydugan , played by Hanks, #aleagueoftheirown ) , but lately, as we navigate this unfathomable nonfiction, the quote keeps coming to me. It can't only be that I miss baseball.

Maybe, just maybe, I'm thinking, the hard is what makes US great. My midnight oil's run out, but I'm carrying this thought, this hopeful paradigm pivot, with me to bed.

Carry on, great people, doing so many hard things. I love us. I really do.

#inthistogetherohio #stayhomeohio #abbeyclelandlopez #writeon ...

When story research leads The Abbey to Google "Brigitte Bardot" at 2am, it's probable she'll look like this by 4am. ✂️
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#bardotbangs #brigittebardot #bombshellgoals #blondeambition #abbeyclelandlopez #writersofinstagram #bangbangbangbang ...

Sometimes books are lovely simply for making you feel like less of a weirdo. (Love Ann Beattie, love DAILY RITUALS.) Thank you, @masoncurrey + @aaknopf . May our wells of magical midnight oil never run dry.... 🌙🦉👩🏼‍💻 #annbeattie #writinghabits #nightowl #abbeyclelandlopez #amwriting ...