When I entered the YA world in 2010, with the impending publication of Imaginary Girls (before that I didn’t feel a welcome part of it because my debut was middle-grade), I looked around at all the authors and thought there was one single kind of career to aspire to, the Best Kind, and of courseContinue reading “The Surprises, the Failures, the New Chapters in This Author Life”
Category Archives: writing
Filling the Well
I hear this advice often—I think I read it first from Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way, one of the books I borrowed from my mother’s bookshelf way back when. Artists need time to “fill the well,” or replenish our creative resources, especially after we’ve completed large, all-encompassing, energy-draining projects such as novels thatContinue reading “Filling the Well”
AWP: The Writer (Not Author) Conference
I remember my first AWP conference. It was in the winter of 2008, before I had my first book out, and around the time I had racked up dozens upon dozens of rejections from literary agents for my second adult novel and was feeling pretty low about my publishing prospects. I still wanted to writeContinue reading “AWP: The Writer (Not Author) Conference”
What THE WALLS AROUND US Means to Me
My new book, The Walls Around Us, was published today! I would be so thrilled and honored if you considered buying it this week from your favorite independent bookstore or ordering it through your local library—first-week sales do help authors so much, that’s the truth. But most of all, however you may get your handsContinue reading “What THE WALLS AROUND US Means to Me”
What’s Happening with THE WALLS AROUND US
I wanted to share some things. My new novel, The Walls Around Us, comes out in March, which is getting closer and closer, and if you want to get a taste of the book—and this is a good, long taste—my publisher has just released a seven-chapter extended preview of the book… and you can download itContinue reading “What’s Happening with THE WALLS AROUND US”
The Obligatory Old Year / New Year Post
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 sawContinue reading “The Obligatory Old Year / New Year Post”
Five Years After the Leap
About five years ago, I was under deadline to complete the first draft of a contracted novel and stressing the hell out over how I would finish on time while working my full-time job as a senior production editor at HarperCollins Children’s Books. I had somehow sold my novel on proposal and agreed to a deadlineContinue reading “Five Years After the Leap”
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 aContinue 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. SoContinue 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 yearContinue reading “Writing a Novel and Seeking the Magic Fix”
