Hi everyone! I wanted to share the link to my most recent column over at DIY MFA: The One Tool All Writers Need This is a subject I was contemplating earlier this month, as I received rejections (or silence) from literary agents and from short story publishers. Rejections are not only common when you’re writing, they’re […]
Writing
My Character Changed Course: Rose and Her Father
I’ve been working on a short story inspired by one of the old Life magazines I picked up at an antique mart earlier this month. It’s about a girl named Rose starting a new school in the early 1950s, just after her father was killed in Korea and her mother was forced to join the […]
How I Create Characters
One of my blogging goals for 2016 is to “show my work.” Last week, I wrote about how to brainstorm a book idea; this week, I’d like to share how I create characters. Whether I write historical fiction, YA literary fiction, or short stories, my trademark is writing from multiple perspectives. So my first step […]
How To Brainstorm A Book Idea
People often ask writers how they get their ideas. I’ve read and listened to many author interviews, and most say that a character or place comes to them first, and they create the story from there. That’s never been the case for me. I’ve always needed to choose the structure first; that’s what inspires me, […]
Dear Mr. Fiction: Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
I’ve slowed things down with Mr. Fiction, at least for the time being. But I always knew it wasn’t going to be a complete breakup; even though my new focus is going to be the nonfiction book, I’m having a relationship with fiction on the side. For one thing, I still have a complete novel that I’d […]
New Path, New Blog
Thank you all for your responses to my fiction vs. nonfiction quandary, both online and in person! I still have more thinking to do, but I feel I’m approaching the point where I can grant myself permission to ease up on my original dream of being a novelist, and pursue nonfiction for awhile. Since I keep a […]