How to Make a Beginning
It’s hard to start to write. No matter the number of chapters or scenes or even emails I’ve written, when I have a blank page in front of me, I stop in my tracks. I see half a dozen different…
Category: Writing Advice
That Western Lens That Filters Our Words
At the Muse and the Marketplace conference a few days ago, someone said American publishers were looking for stories not filtered through the American lens. I almost laughed out loud. Well said, but it was a false statement. I wasn’t…
Hit Refresh! Editing for unconscious bias
Last year I read a novel that was ruined (for me) by this: A family with adult children finds out that one of the kids, for some urgent business reason, needs $150,000 right away or something horrible will occur. It…
Timeout for Teachers
Dear Teacher, By this point, you’ve survived the flu, the stomach bug, and emotional outbursts from that one student in your classroom who never, ever misbehaves at home. “No problem,” you tell your principal as you wonder if the bottle…
An Interview with Crystal King, Author of The Chef’s Secret
Crystal King’s newest novel, The Chef’s Secret, is just out (Atria Books, 2019) and it is as delicious as her first novel, Feast of Sorrow (Atria Books, 2017). Already being called a “sumptuous buffet” and “perfectly paced,” King shines with…
So You Want to Hit Your Goodreads Challenge This Year
At the end of 2018, for the third year in a row, I admitted defeat in my Goodreads Reading Challenge, missing my 45-book goal by seven books. So when the 2019 Reading Challenge posted this year, I was hesitant to…