A couple of days ago I returned from a seven night Kindling Words West retreat in Marble Falls, TX. The Retreat at Balcones Springs offered cozy cabins and beautiful scenery, and our workshop leaders Nancy Werlin and Karen Romano Young provided guidance on how to find...
A couple of things to share today, and though it may seem like a stretch, they actually are related. Favorite thing #1. More than thirty years after first seeing it, I re-watched Michelangelo Antonioni's Blow-Up (1966), starring the late David Hemmings. I first saw...
So last year I set some goals for myself, and I thought it might be fun to check on my progress.1. Journal/blog more. I'm pretty sure I wrote in my paper journal more than I did in 2013, but a counting of blog posts reveals that I wrote fewer. However, when you take...
So . . . I have a release date for my next book: August 4, 2015And now I get to share the cover with you...Click photo to enlarge!What is Ghostlight about? Well, we don't have final flap copy yet, but my own "Hollywood Pitch" would be:Super 8 meets The Haunting. If...
I have a problem.Here's the scenario: over the summer, during one of my many visits to Blackwell's in Oxford, I somehow failed to avert my gaze when walking past the journals. Instead of getting the heck out of there, I headed straight for the rotating display and...
At school and library visits, I almost always get questions about how to be a better writer. I don't consider myself an expert, but I do love talking about this sort of thing. Needless to say, I got pretty excited when I saw this video in which excerpts from a Neil...
Last week I experienced Kindling Words West in Breckenridge, CO. As you can see, our surroundings were sublime. Our first evening together, all the attendees stated their intentions for the retreat. The mornings that followed began with yoga (optional), a fortifying...
My fabulous friend and critique partner Brandi Barnett invited me to join her in blogging about the Writing Process. Brandi is the author of YA novel Glamour, and she blogs about the magic of everyday life at brandibarnett.blogspot.com. Thank you, Brandi, for inviting...
Last April I attended a writing workshop at The Writing Barn in Austin, Texas. You'll find some photos and details here. I learned so much from Sara Zarr and the other participants, and I had a lot of fun, too. I must confess it was a little nerve wracking to...
GRIM is now available for purchase from: Indiebound | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BAMCheck out the trailer:A lot of readers are having trouble placing my story "Untethered" within the works of Brothers Grimm, so I just want to reiterate that it was inspired by a very...
For the past month I've been thinking about the coziness of a writing shed. You know, that snug little house built for one -- a hermit hole of creativity -- that lies a few steps away from a writer's actual house. Sounds divine, doesn't it? Virginia Woolf had one. So...
I have been wrangling with the opening of my new story. The first paragraph languishes at the top of my computer screen, summoning just enough energy to mock me but otherwise managing to be completely useless. Is my writing fairy smirking, too?So when I read these...
Occasionally I come across a photo of an author's writing space and find myself overcome with delight and envy. Usually I just sigh at the hopelessness of ever having such a magical space, but from now on I will share these photos, maybe once a month, so that we can...
We made it through another year! Let's celebrate with tea and a good book. :)I'm not going to do an extended recap/evaluation of 2013, even though I enjoy reading those posts from other folks. Instead I will list some goals for 2014:1. Journal/blog more. This post...
Oh, how I love autumn!Haven't done the Friday Five in a while. Today I give you one alarming thing, and four lovely ones. (Actually many more than four lovely things!)1. The Bechdel Test. Recently I was reading Michelle Cooper's blog (she's the author of the much...
