Cozy to Cold-Blooded: My Auto-Buy Series, Part 1

Cozy to Cold-Blooded: My Auto-Buy Series, Part 1

In the course of writing this column, I haven’t shared my personal favorite mysteries yet. But today, for the debut of my Sunday columns, I made it all about my favorites. I’m sharing the books I don’t even read a description of before clicking buy, the ones I binge in between reading for my column… Read more »

Book Nook: The Reading Challenge

Book Nook: The Reading Challenge

I’ve been putting off writing this column. I love getting to check in each month and talk about books, but the practice of keeping track of what books I’ve picked up in a given month and then deciding which ones to share (I mean, how much of a particular book do I need to read… Read more »

mindset tools for writers

Mindset Tools for Writers

[Part of this post was originally published in January 2014 here and another part of it was originally published in April 2017 here.] The new year always makes me want to reevaluate my creative process and push myself to become a more productive writer. This year is no different. As I’ve been thinking about creativity,… Read more »

be finished with your novel

It’s Time to Be Finished with Your Novel

About a month ago, one of my college writer friends and I were FaceTiming each other, and in between trying to catch up while handing out sippy cups and building Lego with our toddlers, he shared with me a bit of advice he gleaned from a podcast: you need to know when to be finished… Read more »

book cover trends

#5onFri: Five Book Cover Trends from 2021

Despite the well-known saying “you can’t judge a book by its cover,” readers often shop with their eyes. Humans seem to be wired this way. “More than 50 percent of the cortex, the surface of the brain, is devoted to processing visual information,” points out Williams, the William G. Allyn Professor of Medical Optics.  So,… Read more »