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Dealing with Rejection
When it comes to writing, practice makes perfect. The more I write, the better my writing gets. The improvement comes in terms of both the mechanical aspects–grammar, punctuation, and vocabulary–and in my ability to create a good story. In its current form, Glass Houses, the very first book I penned back in 2010, will never get…
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My Next Project
As a university employee, I’ve been off the week between Christmas and New Year’s since the mid-1980s. Depending on where the holidays fall, I usually add a few days to one end or the other to extend the break even longer. It’s never enough time off, and it always goes by too fast. In the…
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Channeling My Inner Romance Novelist
Yesterday I wrote the first draft of what may be the last chapter of After Christmas Eve. The ending has always been a little hazy in my mind. Because the story continues, part of the challenge is deciding where to stop. I decided when I sat down to write it that the last chapter would…
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How to Write a Novel
If you ask me, there are two basic ways to write a novel. You can either make it up as you go along–a style known as pantsing, as in flying by the seat of one’s pants. Or you can plan the story out from start to finish and then start writing. No doubt there are endless…
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The Unveiling
We all know not to judge a book by it’s cover, right? But whether you’re browsing online or in the bookstore for an ebook or a paperback, the cover is the first thing you see. And it’s often the reason you decide to buy (or not buy) the book. A good cover tells the reader…
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Another Step Closer
It’s been two months, one week, and two days since I signed on with Dreamspinner Press. The initial email message from them explained all the steps leading up to a December or January release for Until Thanksgiving. The long list was intimidating and a little frightening. The message from the editor said to be patient.…
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Stressed!
Okay. I admit it. I’m stressed out. My upbeat, positive attitude has helped me to cope. But the quantity of major life events I’ve experienced this year has just about depleted the sunshine I’ve managed to set aside for dark and cloudy days. In graduate school I remember reading studies about a stress scale that…
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Six and a Half Weeks Later
On August 15th, I became a soon-to-be-published writer. The tidal wave I rode for several weeks has broken up into smaller waves, but I’m still very excited and busier than I’ve been since graduate school. An update on my journey is overdue. In truth, there hasn’t been a lot of action. Dreamspinner Press (DSP) gave…
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Living on Cloud Nine
I’m still happily ensconced atop Cloud Nine. Life is good here–full of promise and possibilities. I like it a lot. All I think about is Dreamspinner Press’s upcoming release of Until Thanksgiving–my first novel. Since Wednesday I’ve called or emailed everyone I know who isn’t on Facebook or Twitter, chatted with all my pals at the…
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My New Normal
Too much has changed in the past month for my life to ever return to normal. I lost my father. But the end to his suffering and his inability to do the things he wanted to do prevent me from being sad. Mostly, I feel a profound sense of relief–like a huge weight has been…