Note to Selves
As the result of a glitch in the new privacy settings on my email account, I inadvertently discovered a portal through which I can email my past and future selves. It turns out I am my own best therapist. Who…
Category: GrubStreet
14 Things That Aren’t Writing, No Matter How Much You Want Them To Be
Being done with Grub Street’s Novel Incubator is a strange place to be. It’s kind of like being done with law school–sure, you graduated, but you aren’t a lawyer yet, and there’s that whole bar exam thing that is going…
How To Write When Your Father Is Dying
You will sit down to write on a Sunday morning. Your final manuscript is due to your Incubator class in 22 days. The phone will ring. Your heart will sink at the Maine area code. It will be your father’s…
Making Magic: 6 Steps for Creating A Magical System
Conjure, enchant, shape-shift, or summon—endless possibilities exist in the world of magic. Cast a spell, fight a dragon, wave a magic wand, but don’t forget the ruby slipper, the mermaid, and the unicorn. And then there’s time travel and scrying…
The Fear and Freedom of Facing the Blank Page
Whenever the topic of rewriting comes up, it seems to always be met with a communal groan and mumblings of, “Oh, god.” You know the feeling I’m talking about. You just finished a draft of your novel. You’ve spent months…
Homegrown Books: Reading from my Local Literature Shed
My high school best friend, Jen, and I were discussing books recently. She started telling me, with great enthusiasm, about a novel she had just read that she thought I would like. But she stopped mid-sentence and said, “Oh, never…