Blog Hop!

I’d like to thank Ann Finkelstein for asking me to participate in this blog hop. I’ve been neglecting my blog, and this gave me a reason to get back to it. Ann is a talented writer and photographer whose YA fantasy is now out on submission. You can read about her writing process here.   I’m … More Blog Hop!

Opening Up

Once upon a time, I used to agree that picture book writers had to put much more time into selecting each individual word than novelists. After all, picture book writers can have anywhere from seven words to three thousand words to work with as they work to tell an entire story.*  I can’t speak for every novelist, … More Opening Up

23,333 Words

Lots of writers work faster than I do.  Plenty of my Facebook friends will regularly post one or two thousand words a day, and they’ll do this day after day.  In fact, Stephen King thinks people are serious slackers if they don’t get three to five thousand words down. I’m just excited that I’ve finally … More 23,333 Words

Finished Again

Stories are fluid things until they’re typeset.  That’s when most tinkering stops except for minor word tweaks and punctuation fixes.  The Monday before Thanksgiving I finished Calyn’s story again and sent it off to my agent.  My hope is that I’ll get a chance to finish it three or four more times with an editor … More Finished Again

Parenting Characters

I was one of the writers who shared a few techniques in Sue Bradford Edwards article,  “How to Avoid Parenting Your Characters.”  It was the lead piece in the 11/1 WRITER’S DIGEST e-mail newsletter.  Congratulations, Sue!