Yay! I’m back at it! The actual writing part–not the thinking-through-what-my-character-wants-and why-it matters part. Only this time, as you know, I’m taking a more strategic approach. Before, when I had a good idea for a book or story, I’d start … Continue reading →

Writing is a lonely job. Having someone who believes in you makes a lot if difference. They don’t have to makes speeches. Just believing is usually enough. –Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft So I may say that … Continue reading →

Ok, here goes. Deep breath. I’ve killed off Lyra, my immortal, can-never-die-because-of-her-phoenix-cells heroine. I don’t mean Lyra dies at the end of the novel. I mean there is no more novel in which this Lyra appears. I mean I am throwing out every … Continue reading →

I have yet to write a single word of my angel novel. Not the first sentence nor the last. Not the 500,000+ words over three years and umpteen drafts that I’ve written so far on my Lyra book. And still I’ve gotten … Continue reading →

            Just keep writing, just keep writing, just keep writing… 🙂      

What does Lyra want? Jennie, my book coach, asked me. Ah, I got this. Killing the bad guy. That’s external, Jennie said. What are her internal desires? Umm… I don’t know? But it sounds like I’m supposed to know? Jennie assured me (no doubt … Continue reading →

Thanks to my semester off, I have a concentrated five months to write. Gotta make the most of it! So I’m biting off more than I can chew (probably). While I work at revising (ahem, rewriting) Phoenix Cells, I’m also starting a … Continue reading →

Definitions of: from scratch: start from the beginning with the basic ingredients to start over: to begin to do something again, sometimes in a different way go back to the drawing board: have to start planning a piece of work again … Continue reading →

My challenge from my book coach: Why do you want to write this book? Why must you tell this story? Why are you drawn to this idea? Why, why, why? My response: When I was 16, an old, gray-haired man … Continue reading →

As I work to hone my “why”–why is this story important? Why do I care?–and as I refine my “so what”–my point, my theme, my message–a divinely inspired e-mail arrived in my inbox. It’s from Erin Overbey and Joshua Rothman, two … Continue reading →