My day job has been especially stressful lately, what with department mergers, new bosses, urgent deadlines, and changing rules and roles and expectations. Maybe because of that, or maybe because I just needed some time […]
Just this past Wednesday, I finished writing my latest novel. I’ve talked before about what a high it is to finish, and this week that was an especial treat, since my day job threw some […]
This past weekend, I spent some time going through bins full of old papers, a mess of things that included elementary school projects, photo albums, college essays and design work from my late 20s. A […]
One of my favorite things about writing a series is the fact that characters can come and go throughout, even as I have the opportunity to create new people. I begin each book with an […]
I’m about a third of the way through writing my next novel, with a rough outline of the rest of the plot. As always, some days it’s much easier to get into the creative groove […]
Writing can be a lonely and discouraging experience at times. Those inescapable dark days when we feel like we’ll never amount to anything and can’t write worth a damn (even though we know it’s our […]
“After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.” ― Philip Pullman One of the most extraordinary gifts of human consciousness is the gift of imagination. It’s something we […]
I think you could safely call it a slump. It’s a nice descriptive word, slump. It sounds like what it is. Lately I’ve been somewhat underwhelmed with myself as an author, besieged by doubts. Who […]
The last few months have been busy in my life outside writing, which means that while I’ve put a lot of thoughts in my journal I haven’t come up with any brilliant new ideas for […]
Last night I was invited to give a talk about writing to a women’s group, which was an honor and a pleasure. I so appreciate the attention and interest of those 25 women, who asked […]
In this insanely competitive publishing market, there are clearly a lot of benefits to signing with an agent and being backed by a publisher. Marketing budgets, the guidance of an editor, the expertise of an […]
