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: The Writing Life
An Interview with Chip Cheek, Author of Cape May
More people than I can count have told me that Chip Cheek is an amazing–legendary–Grub Street instructor and even better writer, and now that I’ve read his debut novel, Cape May (Celadon, 2019) I get it. Set in 1957, newlyweds…
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…
Ten Tips for How to Get the Most Out of Meeting an Agent
Muse & the Marketplace season is approaching! But how can you make the most of the Manuscript Mart? Here are ten tips that I’ve gathered from the collective wisdom of Novel Incubator alumni who have survived their own manuscript marts…
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…
Young Adult Round-up: The Power of Online YA Police
As an American who’s written a novel about an American girl caught up in political turmoil in Honduras that includes Honduran characters, I’m particularly concerned about controversies like the one blowing up on the Twittersphere over the YA book, A…