My 10-year-old daughter came downstairs the other day, with a big smile on her face and a stack of old papers in her hand. “Mama, look at my stories from when I was a kid!” (You know, when she was … Continue reading →

Remember when you were a kid watching the Olympics (Summer or Winter)? There was one (or maybe a dozen) sport(s) that captivated you, enthralled you, made you sit up and announce to the world (or just your parents) that you were … Continue reading →

“On average, approximately 99% of submissions to publishers and literary agents get rejected, especially if you’ve never been published.” –P.S. Literary Agency “Now, the more realistic number of queries I received and answered and considered in 2016: 3,053.Total New Clients … Continue reading →

This is me before I took my semester off, hard at work teaching and marking: This is me now during my semester off, hard at work brainstorming my new novel: Livin’ the dream… livin’ the dream… 🙂

Living the Dream: A Rumination on the Writing Life in One Act ACT 1: Writer impatiently waits for rejections from literary agents (’cause what else would there be?) while she starts a new project, a YA fantasy based on angels that’s been in … Continue reading →

I hit the ominous send button. My query letters, for better or worse, are out there in the world. Now I wait, the fate of my success, my dreams, my identity as a writer in invisible hands. Uh, ok, maybe the … Continue reading →

Ah, the literary agent… a magnificent creature, part-myth (few in my world have ever seen one), part-magic, for he or she has the ability to make authors’ dreams come true. You see, they have the power to open magical gateways … Continue reading →

I know… I get it. I understand why literary agents and publishers want a synopsis–a brief summary of the whole novel, including the ending. They need to see that a writer can craft a coherent story from start to finish … Continue reading →