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Parents in the Trenches: Talking to Teens Without Shouting, Getting Gored, or...
Recently, I heard about a woman being gored by a rhino in South Africa. She was in a safari park when a guide suggested that she stand closer to the rhino for a photograph. Immediately afterward, the...
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Should You Publish Your Own Novel? Four Things to Think About.
After writing five novels without selling any of them, I lost heart. What was I doing wrong? I had sold many articles and essays to national magazines. I had a terrific agent (and still do). I was a...
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Does Blogging Sell Books? Not Exactly. But Here’s Why You Should Do It Anyway.
Whether you’re a self-published writer or published by a traditional house, the word on the street is the same: Blog like your life depends on it if you want to sell any books. But does blogging...
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Tips For Choosing The Right Reading Materials for Your Kids
This week, I’m featuring a guest post by English teacher Pam Johnson* on how to choose the best books for children of any age: If you want your children to excel in school and life, you MUST encourage...
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New York City Survival Tips from a Country Bumpkin Mom
I work in a barn. As in, I literally work in an office in the barn behind our house. Built before the Civil War, our barn has everything you might expect: giant white pine support timbers, hand-carved...
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The AWP Conference in Boston: Where Writers Swim Like Fish
My first day at the AWP Conference in Boston, I stood for several minutes at the bottom of the escalator, paralyzed by the sight of so many writers swarming upstream like fish to uncertain habitats....
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Having Babies: The Best Bad Idea Ever
I was at one of those scary artsy parties. You know, the kind where everyone is thinner and cooler and surely having more sex than you are. I was surveying the crowd from a safe corner when I...
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Revising Your Novel: How to Make a Good Book Great By Revving Up the Language
One of the best ways to elevate a book—no matter what the genre—from merely good to truly great is to sniff out stale images and replace them with fresh ones. Recently, for instance, I’ve been...
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An Interview with Romance Author Alexandrea Weis about the Writing Life
Looking for a steamy romance to take your mind off the lingering snow on the ground? Check out Acadian Waltz by award-winning New Orleans author Alexandrea Weis, who was kind enough to stop by my...
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In Bonnets or Sweat Pants, We’re Cultural Historians
It’s easy to feel insignificant. That’s what I was thinking when I was asked by a local library to speak with authors Myfanwy Collins and J.R. Reardon this past Saturday about women writers in honor...
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When Opposites Attract: An Engineer and a Writer Battle It Out
My husband just came up to the spare bedroom I recently started using as my office to ask a question about taxes. He took one look at the bed buried under my books and papers and raised an eyebrow....
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Sinking into a Creative Funk? Move Your Desk.
I love working on the porch behind my house on Prince Edward Island because there are sheep on the farm below. There is something so simple and pleasing about the way the sheep graze together,...
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A Post-Marathon Picnic in Boston: Daffodils, Helicopters and a Mother’s Prayer
My daughter was scheduled to leave for California the day after the bombings in Boston. We live about forty miles north of the city; my son works in downtown Boston, so my daughter and I drove down to...
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My Invisible Black Eye
A week ago, I did something stupid: I ran upstairs carrying an armload of laundry and a cup of hot tea while talking on the phone. Yep, efficiently multitasking. At the top step, though, I tripped and...
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Revising Your Novel: Beware, Your Research is Showing!
I love hearing authors read aloud, especially when they talk about the genesis of their work or the craft of writing it. This past weekend, I was lucky enough to hear a presentation at the Newburport...
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In the Grip of a Gardening Addiction
Seven years ago, my husband and I bought a house that we dubbed Big Red because everything about it was exactly that: Red siding, red shutters, red doors, red trim. The house is a classic New England...
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How to Find Sanctuary Within Yourself: 20 Minutes Will Do
A few years ago, there was a period in my life when I was flying to South Carolina every month to help my mom care for my grandmother and my father. My grandmother was blind and completely dependent...
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When You Finish Your Novel, What Then?
Recently, I took my mom to see The Great Gatsby. As we watched the scene where Nick is asleep on the couch, wan and pale and surrounded by manuscript papers, Mom leaned over to whisper, “I bet that’s...
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An Interview with Author Joanne Tailele
It is my pleasure today to interview Joanne Tailele, whose debut novel, Accident, is a gripping story about a woman who makes a tragic mistake that irrevocably changes her life—and the lives of the...
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Feeling Creatively Blocked? Change Your Clothes—Or at Least Shed Your Bra
I just finished reading The Glass Wives, Amy Sue Nathan’s moving and surprisingly funny new novel about a woman who ends up living with her ex-husband’s second wife after he dies. (There was no...
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