What to Do One Month Before Your Book Launch
When I write this, it is five weeks, two days and twelve and a quarter hours before my novel, Idyll Threats, is published. But who’s counting? Me. I am counting. I am also making to do lists. So many to…
Friday Feast: Vomit Drafts, F Words, Introvert Laments, Lessons Before Writing, and World History Plot Holes
There’s nothing like a first draft — whether it’s your 1st first draft or your 10th — to make you feel like an amateur, or a diner at a restaurant that consistently receives one-star reviews on Yelp. It’s easy to…
The Writer’s Tool I Didn’t Know I Needed: Confidence
I completed the GrubStreet Novel Incubator Program this April and when I look back at that yearlong whirlwind, I still struggle to catch my breath. Most daunting was not learning so many (new to me) literary terms. Nor was it…
Finding the Right Title
It’s almost a rite of passage to have to change the title of your book when it sells to a publisher, and I fully expected that to happen to me. I figured it would be just one more step in…
Friday Feast: #TenThingsNotToSayToAWriter, Motivation, Love and Murder, How to (Effectively) Show Support, and Mailman Hero
Here’s one of the best tweets from the #TenThingsNotToSayToAWriter hashtag: “That sounds like so much fun! Wish I could just sit around and write all day.” PSA: Don’t ever insinuate that it’s free time. Please. And thank you. On to…
Training The Un-amusing Muse
“Toz, where the frog are you now?” That’s me foaming at the mouth yesterday morning. But frog—really? My daughter’s been sanitizing my language. Without swearing, I can find Waldo in his red striped hat, no matter how well he hides….