Fireside Stories
Twenty years ago, I moved to Boston, not because I had any plans but because a friend did and I didn’t have anything better to do. When she asked me if I’d like to come along for the ride, I…
YA Wednesday: Is it Okay to Say #$**x! in YA?
Full disclosure: I swear a lot. When my kids were little they learned some real doozies from me (that I can’t quote here), and made up a few good ones of their own. My personal favorite was when my daughter…
Cliché as landmine: Use the unoriginal to inspire better edits
Editing your novel manuscript can be a painful, embarrassing process. For me, one of the many humbling things I find in a stack of freshly drafted pages is how often I’ve been entirely unoriginal. During the first pass of anything,…
Friday Feast: Inspiration, Page One, Unlikable Female Protagonists, Straight Pins, and Falling in Love with a Reader
Happy first full week of January 2016! How are y’all feeling about your writing resolutions? My only resolution this year is to commit to promoting the books that I read and love, especially those books that don’t get as much exposure for whatever…
Ordinary Time
“First Sunday in Ordinary Time…” Saturday evening. Five-o’clock mass. I am eight. Squished into a pew between one of my brothers and my mother. Half-listening to the priest while I watch the last of the slush drop off the rubber…
YA Wednesday: My New Year’s YA Reading Resolutions
I’m not good at keeping New Year’s resolutions, especially if they involve cutting down on bourbon or chocolate or getting more exercise, so this year I’m trying something new. After months of working on book-launch related activities I feel the…