It’s summer, and time for leisure reading. I have several YA fantasy titles in my TBR pile, some of which are the first books in a two-book series, aka a duology. I’ve read of couple of these, only to reach the end of Book 1 to find no resolution, a lot more questions, and a […]
This past month, I received an inquiry out of the blue purportedly from an editor with a traditional publishing house. My first thought was this must be some sort of scam. But curious, I looked closer. The email was addressed to me by name. The sender identified himself and his publishing house, then mentioned my […]
Have you ever read a novel in which the setting itself becomes a character in the story? Often this is the case when the central conflict of the plot is man vs. nature, such as in Jack London’s Call of the Wild. In these instances, the location (e.g., wilderness, mountain, ocean) serves as the antagonist. […]
In a past author Q & A, I was asked what inspired me to write Bedlam Bewitched. Good question. Normally, I consider myself more of a plot-driven writer. I start with a general idea for a story and begin writing from there. But in Bedlam, the character came first—Cory Smyth, my plucky, witchy FMC. Cory […]
This past December, I attended an excellent presentation on Painless Plot Pointers given by David Macinnis Gill. David is the author of young adult and middle grade novels and has taught plot structure for the MFA program at Vermont College. In his workshop, David walked us through the new Three Act plot structure. The traditional […]
The turn of a New Year offers time to reflect back and look forward. I’m not much for resolutions, but I do set writing goals for the coming year. Looking back, my writing goal for 2025 was to complete a first draft of my novel-in-progress. I didn’t quite get there, but I did make significant […]
A couple of weeks ago, I attended Oktoberfest 2025—a local writing conference presented by the San Franciso North & East Bay chapter of the SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators). Every other year, on the third Saturday of October, my regional SCBWI branch organizes this one-day in-person event. The conference features an inspirational […]
I’ve just returned from a 10-day trip to England. I’m still fighting the jetlag, but the trip was fabulous. We spent seven days in London, then took day trips to Cambridge, Bath, and the Cotswolds. I hadn’t visited England in decades, not since I was a college student on a term abroad. Long ago, I’d […]
A few years back, when attending a writer’s conference, I signed up for a group pitch session with a literary agent. I had a complete and polished manuscript and had honed a pitch. From prior experience (albeit years earlier), I assumed the pitch would consist of genre, word count, and the back cover teaser. When […]
I’ve been busy drafting my next novel and am happy to report steady progress. Not the chapter a week that I’d been hoping for, but I am cranking out chapters in time to meet my critique group deadline for review. The story muse is speaking to me again. Even when I’m not actively typing, my […]
