Recent Articles
On the Myth that Writing Comes Naturally
I used to think that writing came naturally to me. When I was in high school I won all sorts of awards for my writing. When I became an adult, those awards didn't stop coming, they just moved to the journalism sector. I was good at what I did. I didn’t really have to...
How to Persevere When You Feel Invisible
Last week I shared about how my video show is celebrating one whole year of production. It started out much different than it is now, but all the same, I haven’t amassed a whole bunch of followers yet. Truthfully, I had expected to be further along than I am. This...
When You Celebrate a Year of Invisibility
This week my video show, On My Shelf, is celebrating one year. If you were to look at followers and number of views and stats that all the business people tell us mean something important, you wouldn’t be able to tell that I’d been doing this for a year. As I crept up...
How to Write an Effective Query Letter (or Book Blurb)
In case you don’t already know, a query letter is a letter that is sent to agents or editors when we are trying to get our manuscript traditionally published. A query letter contains some of the elements that will also be used in a book blurb, which is a description...
4 Ways to Find Balance as a Parent Who Writes
Lately I’ve been having trouble finding balance. I have heard it said that in order to be prolific at what we do, balance is not something we can achieve. But I don’t believe it. Or maybe that’s just not the kind of prolific I want. Balance is important in my life....
The Best Way to Get an Agent? Don’t Give Up
If you’re not around any of my social media channels, you might not know that after two years and more than 150 rejections on two different novels, I finally signed with an agent. I am incredibly excited and am currently working on revisions to my middle grade...
How To Pace Yourself in the Writing Trenches
Kids are away for the weekend, and my husband and I are sitting in our bedroom, with the two whiteboards out, brainstorming what comes next in our creative endeavors. He looks at my side, all those ideas I’ve listed noncommittally, and he says, That looks like a lot....
Write a GREAT Book Even When Your Time is Limited
