When a Writer’s Restlessness is a Good Thing

A common question authors get asked is “Which of your characters are most like you?” If you’re a smart author, you would’ve probably tried to avoid making a character TOO much like you and relied on your talent and skill to come up with some great, original characters (or, if you’re smarter, you would’ve used …

The Protective Bubble of the Story

When you write for any length of time, you’ll come across some very common thoughts. Patterns, if you will. How hard this all is. How mentally taxing. How frustrating. Everything is frustrating. Editing is frustrating. Marketing is frustrating. Seeing other authors get attention, when you don’t–no matter how much you logically try to tell yourself their …

On Discovering Your Voice

This is a scheduled blog post. I am hoping by the time it publishes itself, I would have finished the first draft of my…I’ve lost count of the actual number, but what will be the seventh book I’ve completed with the intention of publishing (but because of weird scheduling issues will be the sixth out). …

The Need to Express vs. The Fear of Being Misunderstood

One of the scariest things about being a writer is that you have to create something that inevitably, somebody will misunderstand. This has never been more clear to me than when my husband was beta-reading my books. He can be downright critical about some of the character choices, even after I explain them to him in person. …

The Power of Art

This is written on November 9, because, obviously. Instead of pouring my heart out on social media or checking articles and news, I chose to write a lot. I ended up with about 3100 words before the morning was over. When my husband was little, he liked to draw comics. One day, his father took …