YA Wednesday: Diversity (Still) Needed!
I was fortunate to enjoy a young adult fiction double header a couple of weeks ago. It began on a Friday night with a panel of five YA authors at Wellesley Books, followed the next day by the 5th annual…
A Pantser Turned Plotter
I took a research trip in mid-September. The trip itself was amazing. I spent time with archival information. I saw photos of the woman whom I’m modeling my protagonist after. I felt my main character in that room with me….
Friday Feast: The Luke Cage Syllabus, Money Talk in MFA Programs, How to Become a Novelist in Ten Easy Steps, Boomers Take to Bookselling, and the National Book Award Finalists
I haven’t had a chance to binge-watch Luke Cage yet. I’m still binge-watching Smash to take my mind off revising my latest shitty first draft while waiting for my I-hope-it’s-not-shitty-please-let-it-be-final draft from my editor. Life motto: hope for the best, expect the worst….
Creating Art Without Envy
This summer I got to travel around Asia for two months with a dear old friend—a novelist and playwright, and my best reader. For weeks we’d looked forward to Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the massive Hindu temple complex dedicated to…
Depravity Happens. Do We Have to Read About It? The Case for (and against) Violence in Literature
This spring I nearly declared a moratorium on violent fiction after reading three savage novels: The Orphan Master’s Son, The Sympathizer and A Little Life. Afterward life felt dirty. Basta! After all, the news is horrific: a toddler refugee washes…
Friday Feast: The Literary Wilderness; The Slut-Shaming of Romance Novels; How to Publish a Book; On Solitude, Compromise, and Publishing That First Novel; And Tips on Writing Book Reviews
My big deadline this week entailed completing and submitting my author questionnaire. In this document, you outline some basic facts, like your name (important), publishing and media contacts (most important, which is sad, because I have none), and digital outreach…