The Secret Room
In my present home we have no attic (just a hot and dirty crawl space under the roof) and only half a basement which is wet or flooded most of the year. The house sits on a massive slab of […]
posts
The Aftermath
I received my editor’s notes on May 24th. Read through them. Had myself a good cry (both sobs of joy and frustration). Then I thought about everything she had said for a couple of days. On May 26th, I sat […]
First Drafts
Your first draft is going to suck.Possibly your 4th and 5th one too.I probably revise about 3 X before I even let my beta readers read the manuscript.Then after I’ve received their comments and criticisms I edit again a couple […]
Cussing
Warning!!! This post contains lamely-disguised contractions of bad words. When I had my record label we used to make fun of rappers who used the word motherf**ker to excess, especially those who just inserted it willy nilly to make the […]
Clothing myself in the story
I may possibly inhabit my stories and my character’s skins too much. I’m not entirely sure. A few years ago my husband bought me a small hand-held voice activated recorder so that I could speak the flurry of my thoughts […]
Insipid Heroines
In real life I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone truly insipid. Boring perhaps but mostly because their interests don’t mesh with mine. Or they insist on trying to grab the center of attention spotlight away from myself. Actually that […]
Feeling My Way
This is how it works for me.I write an outline.Some character sketches.Get a basic plot idea.Start to fill in.Usually I know what the first few chapter will be about. I know where I want to start. I know where I […]
Step away from the hoity toity
I’m a critical reader.I read loads of YA and MG books and some of them leave me cold. Meh. (shrugs shoulders).I pretty much always read a best-seller out of curiosity and frequently I am punished for it.We used to talk […]
Saturday’s writing workshop
I think I did my first reading/writing workshop a month after my first book came out. So that would be…ummmm…about 4 years ago. It was hosted by our local library and I arrived lumbered with poster boards and books for […]
Blurbed
Before my first book (The Curious Misadventures of Feltus Ovalton) came out I sent a few letters to some children’s lit authors I admired. I chose Louis Sachar and Eva Ibbotson because they combined humor with fantasy, and Philip Pullman […]