Category: The Writing Life

Would You Pay to Read This Novel?

A favorite feature of mine on the blog Writer Unboxed, is by editor Ray Rhamey, who selects the first page of a best-selling novel and asks, “Would you pay to turn the page of this best-seller?” which he then follows…

Working Through Research Anxiety

On almost every night around 9:30, you will find me enthusiastically darting up and down the street in front of my house, treat bag wrapped around my waist, my dog Zephyr at my side, wearing the human equivalent of noise…

Friday Feast: In Defense of Villainesses, Women Taking Charge, a Writer’s Guide to Hacking the Reader’s Brain (in 5 Steps), the Importance of Empathy as Craft, and What Happens When a Book Is Fatally Flawed

Maybe it’s because I’m writing a novel with two female leads who flirt with a whole heap of trouble. Maybe it’s because of the stunningly sexist commentary from the Olympics and the policing of women’s bodies on the regular. Whatever…

Writing your (gayest) truth

There are invisible radio waves floating around our heads, and somehow every new writer picks up one particular frequency that translates to: write your truth. It’s the first advice many of us receive, and the most often repeated. Some may…