The peculiar thing about writing a book is that sometimes you don’t know where the idea for it came from. Other times you can trace it exactly to something you saw, heard, read, researched, etc. But whatever spawned the idea, something about it made you feel as if you...
This subject matters, whether you're a reader or a writer. Writers because it's important to understand the forces at work in the publishing world, and readers because those same forces can have a big effect on the books available to you to read. The hermetic world of...
It has been a long time since I've posted here. Yes, I've been busy. But it's more than that. A lot going on both personally and professionally. Right now I should be rehearsing the live webinar I'm giving on Tuesday that's related to my coaching, but somehow I want...
I'll be honest: my young adult historical fiction has mostly had lackluster sales. In fact, after my editor left my YA publisher, no one seemed very interested in continuing to work with me. So at that point I returned to writing adult historical fiction—which I still...
Yes, I've been very, very busy with bookish things. Full-time busy. And I'm all over the place. Literally. But you can find me! And I'm still here too. Find information about my latest books here. See more about my 13th-century trilogy here. Want to come to one of the...
Many books and blog posts have been written about "show don't tell." I'm not going to pontificate about it here. As most writers understand, there's a place for both in a novel. What I want to talk about here is what that phrase actually means. I want to illustrate...
There's no denying the appeal to readers of a series or a trilogy. When I think about it, I realize that I truly fell in love with reading because of a series—Nancy Drew, of course! As a young reader, I loved getting to know Nancy and her friends, watching her get...
Sometimes life pushes you onto a path you didn't expect. Writing full time and hanging out a shingle as a freelance editor and ghostwriter isn't what I thought I'd be doing at the moment. I thought that would be about six years off for me. But... My editor site is...
A little late, but at least it's still January! Why is it that turning the page on the calendar feels so significant? For me, a new year is an invitation to new beginnings. I suppose that's obvious, but the symbolism of it is very powerful. It's a challenge to adjust...
It's been a while since I've written one of these posts, mostly because I've been head down writing my new WIP. This project is all absorbing, because I am very excited about it and very scared that I can't do it justice. But I haven't just been writing. I've also...
I wonder how many readers think that writers just sit down and pour out a story onto the page, that maybe with a few little edits and tweaks the story that first goes on the page is the one that ends up in the published book. Sometimes that's the case. I've been...
I haven't been to an art museum in quite a while. I used to go all the time. The only reason I went today was because there was such a long line at the Smith bulb show (my original destination). It's not the Met or the MFA, but the Smith art museum—half a mile from my...
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