How to Form That Writing Habit
I was heading out with the whippets for one of our first walks originating from my new condo. Next door lives a young boy who is less than enthusiastic about dogs. Since I don’t want to do further damage to…
Category: Novel Incubator
Friday Feast: Steps in Traditional Publishing, Writing Programs That Fit the Form, Book Recommendations Based on Your Favorite Stranger Things Character, Why There Are So Many Books with Girl in the Title, and How to Make Every Word Count
Five years ago, I wrote a Tumblr post about how sometimes I hate my Work in Progress. Today, I turn in final edits to my editor for that same Work in Progress. After x amount of years (I’ve lost count)…
An Interview with Louise Miller, Author of The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living
Louise Miller’s delightful debut novel, The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living, follows pastry chef Olivia Rawlings from Boston to idyllic Guthrie, Vermont following a workplace accident precipitated by a flambé dessert. Olivia’s life in Guthrie takes an unexpected turn…
Through the Eyes of an Antagonist
My farm is a novel that writes itself over and over, year after year, always with a similar story arc: I plant, I tend, things go wrong, bugs invade. I fend off crows and raccoons. I pray for rain. I…
When to Let That Novel Go
I recently returned from my annual writing retreat with my fabulous writing group, the Salt + Radish Writers. We go every year and spend four days in a rambling, old Maine house on the beach. We have a schedule, stick…
Friday Feast: Debunking the 10,000-Hours Rule, Scorched Earth Novels, the Importance of Sensitivity Reading, How to Promote Your Book Without Being Annoying, and an “Embarrassingly Inefficient (but Surprisingly Effective) Writing Process”
Back when I had time to take kung fu and tai chi classes, I hung on to the hope of the 10k hour myth because I wanted to believe that all that time spent in class would turn me into some…