I was delighted to be asked to participate in author Deonna Kay’s interview series, Authors Helping Authors. As writers, we’re always fascinated by how other writers do our thing, aren’t we? I can’t get enough of hearing about the myriad ways authors create their stories and poetry. I often glean writerly tips from authors who write very different genres than mine, but whose process somehow speaks to me. Deonna asked interesting questions, which made me…
Story of a Young Writer Dreams of becoming a writer are almost part of the human condition. We all feel a need to document the lives we’re living, especially as we get older. But some of us had that urge from the beginning. I sure did, starting about age ten. And I sometimes hear from others who began young to dream of becoming a writer. Recently I received an email from a librarian and teacher…
I recently had a surprising writerly adventure. The scare of a possible stroke sent me to the Emergency Department with a smile that didn’t work and a droopy eyelid. My emergency visit became a two-day hospital stay for testing. Though our local hospital is one of the best, I was not a happy camper to be yanked out of home and interrupted in the midst of editing my novel. Plus, I was iscared of what…
Unlikely writing places for insiration? I’ve got tons. I write best in unlikely places, and I’m always looking for new ones. I’m also a peripatetic writer: Have Laptop Will Travel. Soemtimes changing where you write changes everything about what you write. Weird ones that work for me: the shower (I need a waterproof phone), my inside stairs (Christopher Robin complex?), the closet (see the movie THE MUSE). Yours?
I asked myself today why I’m writing a blog — and these words popped into my mind: inspiration, ideas, empowering your creativity. I write this as a writer’s journal, not a how-to write, not craft articles, and not how to query agents and get published. You can find better authorities on those things. This is where I accumulate my own personal sources for inspiration, ideas, and empower my own creativity. This is my personal writer’s…
Blogs about writing are like my morning newspaper, they get my writer mojo. Each day, I wake up and read stuff on my phone while I’m still in bed, and into the coffee phase of waking up. I have a writing practice of using the first two hours of the day for my creative self — drafting new chapters, poems, story ideas, and editing works in progress. To get into the swim, I read about…
These 5 tips for balancing your creative life and your published author life might just help save your sanity. Every day when I wake up, I wonder whether I should be the writer or the author — should I spend my time on my new work-in-progress or promote my novel, The Renaissance Club. Creating and promoting are two different mindsets, thiough both involve creativity.
Magical realism in women’s fiction — magic and stories about relationships just seem to go together. In my reading adventures, they certainly have, from Susanna Kearsley to Sarah Addison Allen to Alice Hoffman. I find magic really woven into the fabric of our ordinary world, so magical realism — the insertion of fantastical elements into the commonplace — seems to me natural. Is time travel magical realism, fantasy, or science fiction? This is a complicated…
I was thrilled to be part of the first Women’s Fiction Writers Association quarterly Author Happy Hour, sharing secrets of success — and lots of the struggle along the way — with three other wonderful novelists who have recently published books. Click the link above to watch the Youtube! We laughed and talked about the whole process of writing and publishing, the writing life, and our own unique formulas for approaching the creative act.
Pre-order THE RENAISSANCE CLUB, my time-travel, romantic novel. Would you give up everything, even the time in which you live, to be with your soul mate? That’s the question my main character, May Gold, has to ask herself when her adventures in Italy in The Renaissance Club bring her face-to-face with her idol, 17th century genius sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini. She has always admired — maybe more than admired — the fiery, expressive artist who could…