I came home from my writing retreat right before the New Year. I can’t spend that night apart from E. Yaddo is a secretive place. I cannot post photos or give many details, but I can say I shared some inspiring conversations, laughed and learned many things, and slept with the light on because I saw … Continue reading The Obligatory Old Year / New Year Post
confessions
The Calm Before the Who-Knows-What: 110 Days to Publication
I write this to you from a quiet moment in my publishing life. It is December 5, the year 2014, and I am in the room at the rear of the café at a table beside the outlet where I can safely sit with my back against a wall. I am all alone in a … Continue reading The Calm Before the Who-Knows-What: 110 Days to Publication
The Two-Month Countdown and the One-Track Mind
Today is November 15. That means I have two months to finish* this Thing* and turn it in. *Just finish the first draft—there will be revisions! *See my previous post for why I feel safer calling it a Thing. For the TLDR lazypants who don’t feel like clicking: By Thing I mean my novel. So … Continue reading The Two-Month Countdown and the One-Track Mind
Writing a Novel and Seeking the Magic Fix
I am writing what will be my fifth published novel. Five is a number I like, so you’d think this would be a glorious experience, but nothing is ever as easy as I’d hope it to be, most of all writing. This novel I’m writing was originally slated to come out Spring 2016, a year … Continue reading Writing a Novel and Seeking the Magic Fix
The Book of Your Heart Series: Ryan Graudin
When an author says a book she’s written is the Book of Her Heart, what does that mean? In this completely irregular ongoing blog series, I’ve invited guest authors to reveal what they consider the Book of Their Heart—and share why this book holds a distinct and special place apart from all others they’ve written. … Continue reading The Book of Your Heart Series: Ryan Graudin
The Book of Your Heart Series: Amy Reed
When an author says a book she’s written is the Book of Her Heart, what does that mean? In this completely irregular ongoing blog series, I’ve invited guest authors to reveal what they consider the Book of Their Heart—and share why this book holds a distinct and special place apart from all others they’ve written. … Continue reading The Book of Your Heart Series: Amy Reed
The Book of Your Heart Series: Andrea Hannah
When an author says a book she’s written is the Book of Her Heart, what does that mean? In this completely irregular ongoing blog series, I’ve invited guest authors to reveal what they consider the Book of Their Heart—and share why this book holds a distinct and special place apart from all others they’ve written. … Continue reading The Book of Your Heart Series: Andrea Hannah
When You Start Writing (Again) Only for You
Something happens when you publish a novel for the first time. And I mean after the shock and thrill of selling the book and all those glorious and dazed dream-worthy moments leading up to when the book hits shelves, all tangled up with your hopes and expectations and the promises you may have been led … Continue reading When You Start Writing (Again) Only for You
Facing Down the Doubt Monster
Oh, fellow writers. So, while I work on the revision of what will be my fourth published novel (my sixth written novel, and none of this is counting any of the work-for-hire novels I’ve ghostwritten), I look up and keep seeing this ugly face in the mirror.Doubt.I thought, by now, now I'm writing book #4, … Continue reading Facing Down the Doubt Monster
The End-of-Year Quiet
Why, hello there. I’ve been quiet. Since I last spilled my thoughts here, I worked hard to get my first draft of The Walls Around Us done by deadline. I will tell you the truth, want it, want the truth? After everything I said in that post—shouting my love and appreciation for deadlines from the … Continue reading The End-of-Year Quiet
