Moving the Goal Posts I was lamenting to an author friend how hard “traditional” publishing success is to come by. While she agreed, she also cautioned me, not so much about my perspective of “success” (something I’ve learned must be different for … Continue reading →

Lessons From Legends I read an article about the 19th century English Poet John Keats, who died of tuberculosis at age 25. He’d had a traumatic childhood—his father dying when he was 8, his mother remarrying then abandoning him and his … Continue reading →

The Camera is Watching My daughter’s friend told a story of a girl who set her phone camera on time-lapse as she did her homework. The goal was discipline: when she looked back at her time-lapse video, she didn’t want … Continue reading →

Crunching The Numbers There’s always so much talk, worry, emphasis and hand-wringing over social media. How much should you, as a writer, be on it? What kind of content? How does it help you build your author platform?  The conventional answer is … Continue reading →

Or Not I’m sure you know the expression, “know the rules before you break the rules.” It holds true for writing, absolutely. There is such a thing as a bad story; writing may be subjective, but yes, there are “rules” that can … Continue reading →

Wisdom of the Ages My daughter was telling me about her Radical Political Thought class at university, and her reading of 16th century political theorist Jean Jacques Rousseau’s thoughts on the origins of inequality. He argued it came from what he … Continue reading →

Romance For All of Us In one activity I used to teach debating skills in my English class, I would ask those who identified as male to stand on the right side of the room; all those who identified as … Continue reading →

Getting the Most Out of Your Books I rarely buy new clothes. My style is classic, so I’m okay not to shop for the latest trends. Besides, I’d rather save my money for what’s really important. Books, books and more … Continue reading →

Tough AND Love “Missed opportunity”. “Inadequate world-building detail.” “Not enough character motivation.” These are phrases a writer friend got from a developmental edit. It’s not that they weren’t true—my writer friend is always prepared for tough love when it comes … Continue reading →

Maintenance Recently, I passed an unusual sight. I was crossing over railroad tracks near my house—tracks I’ve crossed a hundred times—and I noticed a railroad worker on a tall ladder cleaning the warning lights.  Huh. In all my years and … Continue reading →