It’s summmmeeerrrrtiiiiiiiiiimmmmmeeeee and reading is breeeeezy. I live in Pittsburgh and we are well into the dog days of summer. My paperbacks are acquiring the smell of sunscreen, chlorine, and just a hint of BBQ smoke. Summer reading is going well and I am finding myself replacing “just another episode” with “just a few more… Read more »
Writer’s block happens to every writer at some point. Creativity slows down. Your words feel like they’re stuck to your insides. If you’ve never experienced that bone-dry-whistling-wind-through-a ghost-town desiccated feeling of writer’s block, just wait. We talk about getting back into the “flow,” feeling like an idea dries up, sometimes that creativity rushes and overwhelms,… Read more »
If you want to sell your book and engage your readers, you need to write a first chapter that sets up distinct expectations for the reader, like what the story will be about, the type of genre it is, and the quality of your writing. One way you can learn how to write a great… Read more »
Here it is, the second installment of my Sherlockiana column. (Be sure to check out The Not-So-Elementary Universe of Sherlock Holmes, Part 1) This one is a wilder ride than the last, including a warlock, a group of crime-fighting female monsters, and Holmes and Watson teaming up with Freud. Once again, I have rated them… Read more »
Introducing Shutter Picture it: it’s your twenty-seventh birthday. Twenty years to the day since your dad first let you in on his adventures by taking you to the moon. Ten years since your dad died. You feel washed up, because you don’t have any new adventures to write about. You decline company from your best… Read more »
My reading has always been a bit all over the map. It’s gotten more so over the past couple of years, and even more so since I started cohosting the podcast. To be sure, there are still certain genres that aren’t my jam, but I am trying to find ways of subtly incorporating them in… Read more »
I read a lot of nonfiction because I have an innate curiosity about the world and I enjoy learning things I didn’t know before. Whenever I want to learn how something works, I find a book. I especially love reading writers’ memoirs as a way of learning more about writing. While everyone is different and… Read more »
Greetings and felicitations, word nerds! Who’s signed up for a summer reading program? I know that by the time this is published, I shall be registered. If you are an adult who also takes part in a local summer reading program, let me know in the comments! I’d love to know what you’re reading and… Read more »
While I work on part 2 of my Sherlockiana post, here is another I promised—my auto-buy authors. You know what series I buy on sight (and don’t miss part 2 here). Now you will know the authors who inspire similar devotion in me. My Auto-Buy Authors Rhys Bowen When I started reading mysteries more often… Read more »
I think spring might be my favorite season for reading. (Though I will say fall is a close second.) I get to read outside where the air is crisp and full of possibilities and promise. It’s white wine and rosé season—at last. And after the long and miserable winter, full of seasonal depression, my spring… Read more »
