What are Your Intentions?
Just as the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, the path to my recycle bin is littered with fuzzy intentions. One of these scenarios tells a complete story. The other is just a pile of garbage.
Category: The Writing Life
YA Wednesday: YA Villains That Will Rock Your World, A Villain-Themed YA Anthology, 10 Ways To Create Dangerously Nuanced Antagonists, Which YA Book Villain Are You?
I recently saw the new Marvel movie, Dr. Strange. I enjoyed its dazzling dreamlike special effects but also found it helpful to me as writer. I’ve been struggling with how to make the villain in my novel into a fully…
Writing During the Holidays: Unleash the Power of Odd Time
The busy holiday season will steal your writing time. Sure, there’s a post-it note reminder on your calendar, or a big chunk of time blocked off on your Google calendar, but those are easily looked over when visiting Aunt Nancy…
Doctor My Eyes
Every morning, before I open my eyes and sit up, I steel myself. This will be the day. Today I am going to open my eyes and they will work. I will see. I lost my eyesight so young I’m…
The Solo Writing Retreat
Ah! The idea of one solid week of writing, and nothing but writing, kept me going for months. I had booked this week away back in June, just after returning from my annual four-day retreat with my writing group. My…
Standing Room Only
Before Tuesday’s election results, I was thinking about how five million Chicago-area fans celebrating the Cubs’ World Series victory boded well for the future of this country. I started this piece after witnessing the Cubs’ historic win, and it made me…