For Valentine’s Day in 2009 my husband and I got tickets to a New Yorker event called “Love Is Strange” where Jeffrey Eugenides was going to speak about love and literature. That February, I was finishing my dissertation that included…
‘Masshole’ is now officially a word, not just the word I yell at the drivers who nearly run me over in the crosswalk. Much like being a pedestrian in Boston, the publishing path is full of hazards, even when you…
Like a lot of writers, I have a little notebook where I jot down stuff that pops into my head. Sometimes it’s an idea or phrase. Sometimes it’s nothing more than a single word. For instance, the last note I…
Most people in my writing circle know that I am a former project manager. “Former” because when you’re a project manager most coworkers think that you are evil, sent from Hell to destroy their workday happiness with demands for goals…
Last week, I disagreed with people who said that Pizza Hut’s new pigs in a blanket pizza is the downfall of civilization. Such opinions are subjective. And subjectivity is something we writers know something about. This week, along with other…
“Show, don’t tell.” It’s likely the most common writing advice out there and with good reason. Readers want to experience the world of your story, not have it dictated to them. But it’s worth pushing this advice a little further,…