Pitching for a Happy Ending
I’ve often felt a need to fit in. Even though I think outsiders are cooler than insiders and people who don’t fit the mold are way more interesting. In book publishing, there’s a similar need for books to fit in…
Category: Novels
An Interview with Leni Zumas, Author of Red Clocks
Leni Zumas’ new novel, Red Clocks (Little, Brown, 2018) was a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, an Amazon Best Book of the Month, an Indie Next pick, and one of Esquire’s Most Anticipated Books of 2018. It is electric and brilliant. If you haven’t…
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…
3 Reasons Why I Set My Novel in an Alternative World
The question I get the most about my novel-in-progress is, “Why is it set in an alternative world?” My story takes place in the country of Silmara, not to be found on any map except ones I’ve drawn (alas, cartography…
Five Months from Publication: Fears about Being Judged
This past week my Advance Reader Copies of my debut novel, Gina in the Floating World (She Writes Press), arrived. Although my publication date (September 25) is almost five months away, having in my possession this artifact that is my…
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…