Instead of an opening-night reading from one of their professors, they were going to hear a talk on “Politics and Inspiration” by Regina Somers, the woman Janine finally understood was responsible for selecting her poem for publication. Janine remembered meeting her on the very first night at the Ranch, and although she had not gotten much out of Regina’s webinar on “Growing Your Audience through Christian Tumblr and Pinterest Sites,” she felt that in general the woman projected an image of competence, enthusiasm, and encouragement to all the writers at the Ranch. She had a good handshake, she looked you in the eye, and her hair was always perfect. Her webinars frequently used acronyms and other types of mnemonics, a tactic Janine herself had used in classrooms over the years (though she finally had to toss her old HOME EC poster, which spelled out classroom rules, when someone defaced it to read HO EC), and she slowed down just enough to answer questions but not so much that Janine got bored. Janine thought that with her smooth presentation style and professional demeanor, Regina would be a good role model for her daughter, and decided she would insist that Beth join them for the presentation.

She hadn’t yet seen anyone from her class, not even Lorraine, with whom she had been corresponding with greater and greater frequency. BE BOLD, Lorraine had told her. DON’T MAKE EXCUSES FOR WHO YOU ARE. DON’T APOLOGIZE.

BE RADICAL.

She had spent the whole summer puzzling over this idea of how to be radical, and wondered if Regina’s seminar might offer some other clue. Wasn’t it radical to take Terri Schiavo as her subject, to try to imagine the poems that came from her locked-in mind?

WHAT ELSE? Lorraine had wanted to know, when Janine sent her some drafts in May.

Janine had interpreted this to mean that she was telling the story too narrowly, and tried writing from the point of view, then, of Terri’s mother and father. Writing those poems, she’d cried for days, imagining herself and Rick in that situation. She’d thought the poems were good, maybe better than the ones she’d sent with her application, but Lorraine had not liked them.

OF COURSE HER PARENTS ARE SAD, Lorraine wrote in an email. LIFE IS SAD. BUT THIS IS PITY. THIS IS SCHMALTZ. START OVER. ALLOW DOUBT TO COME IN. WHAT IF TERRI WANTED TO DIE?

I THINK SHE WANTED TO LIVE! Janine insisted.

WHAT IF SHE WANTED BOTH? Lorraine wrote. WHO HASN’T WANTED BOTH, EVEN WITHOUT THE PROBLEMS OF COMMUNICATION, COGNITION, AND SELF-CARE? YOU MUST ALLOW HER SOME COMPLEXITY, JANINE. IF YOU ARE GOING TO INVITE YOURSELF INTO SOMEONE’S MIND, YOU HAVE TO ACCEPT THAT IT’S MESSY IN THERE.