My Novel is a Snowflake
Once again I’m wrestling with figuring out the genre of my novel. Anyone else who’s run into this particular problem, raise your hand. Yes, I see you all. Seriously, do we really care which category each book falls into, so…
Category: Books
Dead Book Walking
I’m writing a book that will probably never get published. Not because it’s a bad book, necessarily, though it may be, but because it’s a book about people trying to escape the kind of broken country we might end up…
Letting Go of Attachments
I am an expert at cleaning out my closet. I have been pushed by circumstance to get rid of many of my possessions again and again. But when it comes to my words—I’m not as talented. I have been thinking…
A year with so much outstanding Young Adult fiction can’t be all bad
It’s been…an interesting year. But it didn’t entirely suck. In 2017, a lot of great YA fiction came charging out, leading the push for diverse representation, tackling some tough social issues, and being well-crafted, compelling reads. Here is a round-up…
Exploring Character Through Memoir
Fiction readers expect more of characters than they do of people in real life. In life you can have a person who does inexplicable self-destructive or transgressive shit, and friends and colleagues just shake their heads and say, “Oh, that’s…
DNA, Memory and Fiction as Magic: A True Story
Every fiction writer, it’s safe to say, has had the experience of writing something, then asking: “Where the hell did that come from?” Sometimes our next act is to delete it and try again, but on occasion we’re lucky, and…