It’s all there. The whole story. On paper! All my scenes, edited separately, are now in order. Now I can start on page one, chapter one, and flip through the whole thing. Very cool. Or not… Because as soon as … Continue reading →

Let the revisions begin… And yet again, I have a lot to learn. Going solely on past experience, I assumed one made revisions chronologically. Even though I wrote the scenes and chapters out of order, I figured that since I … Continue reading →

…my first draft, that is. Still, compared to the first drafts I finished for my other two novels, this one feels much more complete. I still have a long way to go before you, dear reader, can pick up this … Continue reading →

Your regularly scheduled blog post will return when the writer has finished the first draft of her manuscript which will be next week because that’s her final deadline with her book coach! p.s. The book coach wants to approach literary … Continue reading →

Writing is a lonely profession, where perseverance in the face of the world’s absolute indifference to your drive, talent and goals is essential. So when a professional like my book coach Jennie compliments my work, I’m buoyed. But when a … Continue reading →

When I started my semester off in February, I had an ambitious goal: start and finish a draft of a new book, my third, before I returned to the classroom in September. When I ran into roadblocks looking for literary … Continue reading →

It’s full-on summer, which  means, with my kids home from school, I’m a full-on mom. Which means I have less time to write. Which means I have to prioritize my writing time: work on my novel to get my first … Continue reading →

Did you know that adjectives describe nouns? Did you know that adjectives don’t erase them? For example, if I put the adjective “unpublished” in front of the noun “writer”, it simply describes what type of writer I am–the word doesn’t … Continue reading →

Memo to the cast and crew of  Phoenix Cell Savior: We will be on hiatus for the next few weeks. All production, including blog posts will halt while the writer-creator-producer-director galavants off to France (lucky her). Please be ready to report back … Continue reading →

Ayaan’s gone. I had to give her the boot. Ayaan was supposed to be the teen girl who took Lyra in under her wing and showed her what a peer friendship could be like. She did well in her initial role … Continue reading →