HeyJaredThe Word Cave
Short essays and missives about writing, reading, and art from Lilly Dancyger, author of First Love and Negative Space. Plus occasional writing course listings.
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 3
- Latest publication
- Sep 23, 2026
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- Earliest in this view
- Jul 14, 2026
Latest issues
Last call for 25% off writing classes! (opens the original)
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The first month at home with my newborn son has somehow already come to a close—it feels both like we just brought him home from the hospital, and like life before the nonstop cycle of feed-burp-change-nap is a distant memory of someone else’s life. All five of us (me, my husband, the baby, and our two cats) are learning and adjusting every day, and, I think, doing a damn good job (especially the baby—he’s really good at being a baby, and I’m already a proud mom telling him how good he is at eat
Girls* of Summer (*Novels) (opens the original)
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I’m officially on maternity leave, waiting for my baby to show up any minute now! In the meantime, I’m sleeping a lot, getting as far as I can in a novel revision before sending the manuscript to my agent (there is a non-zero chance that I’ll hit “send” right before leaving for the hospital…), and reveling in the incredible summer we’re having for literary fiction by brilliant women. A few recent favs have stood out as so good I want to tell everyone I know about them, so I figured I might as we
Maternity Leave Sale! (opens the original)
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I’m getting ready to go on maternity leave! I’m not sure yet exactly how long I’ll take off (the big upside of self-employment in this situation is that I’ll be able to get back to work gradually, rather than all at once) but I’m planning/hoping to step away from work entirely for several months. This will be the longest I’ve gone without working since I got my first waitressing job when I was 14 years old! I’m excited, and nervous. Will I get bored? Will I run through my savings faster than I’v
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