“Divorced, Beheaded, Died; Divorced, Beheaded, Survived”, is the mnemonic used to remember the fates of Henry VIII’s famous six wives. But how can we recall the lives of those forgotten by history, yet no less pulled into the orbit of…
The truth: Elizabeth Chiles Shelburne’s debut novel, Holding On To Nothing, made me cry. Not many novels have this effect on me and so it is no exaggeration when I say that her beautiful, tragic characters sucked me in and…
First off, a confession: I am a K-pop stan. I listen to it every day, BTS in particular. I’ve actually seen the septet perform in person seven times. So, as a BTS ARMY (the name of the group’s massive fandom)…
Shanghai, 2007: Fourteen-year-old Alva was born and raised in China by her American expat mother. Her hopes of moving to America are dashed when her mother becomes engaged to Lu Fang, their Chinese landlord, whose own dreams were curtailed…
Many of us know her from her newsletter, Your Weekly Writing Exercise, chock-full of craft tips, writing exercises, and inspiration; or have used her book, Your Book Starts Here, to plot our stories. We’ve benefitted from her W-structure workshop and…
The Truth About Horses, Christy Cashman’s debut novel, is a wonderful mix of psychological and equestrian drama, with enough magical realism to keep you off balance. Fourteen-year-old Reese’s dream of winning a big race is shattered when her horse, Trusted…