The sticker on my laptop reading “I am silently correcting your grammar” might make me chuckle, but it is not, in fact, true. As an editor, people sometimes send me screenshots of misspellings and grammatical errors that they found funny. Again, I may chuckle, but before I declare that writing “wrong,” I must first make… Read more »
So, you want to write about your dysfunctional family. Well, good for you. (And if you’re one of the lucky few who wants to write about your functional family, I’m not your Huckleberry). Family dynamics are difficult enough to grasp, let alone write about. But when properly explored, they make for powerful stories. Here’s a… Read more »
Word nerd, what makes your heart sing? I have a confession: I love personality quizzes! For the 16 Personalities, I’m an INTJ all the way, and according to the Four Tendencies, I’m definitely a rebel (surprise, surprise). But my favorite personality test of all is the Sparketype Assessment, developed by Jonathan Fields of the Good… Read more »
It happens to all writers. Your head is full of ideas that paint great pictures in your head, which you’re longing to put on paper, but the muse Calliope just isn’t there with inspiration for you. But if the mountain does not come to Mohammed, then Mohammed must go to the mountain. In other words,… Read more »
I came late to the writing life. When I did arrive, it was with misconceptions, fantasies, myths, and misinformation. I discovered that I was not alone in this, but rather many other newcomers were also finding their hopes and dreams rooted not in reality but in wishful thinking. It’s a tough dichotomy: writing fiction requires… Read more »
If you’re supposed to write what you know, then it makes sense you’d want to linger in the good moments. Food nostalgia is especially intoxicating — the way the salty air bounced off of your cappuccino on a rooftop in Positano or how your main character sat on her porch every evening eating cheesecake and… Read more »
Let me confess, I’m a bit of a notebook addict. There’s nothing I love more than a new notebook brimming with blank pages full of potential. At the start of this year, I received a big, beautiful notebook from my mother-in-law, who is an avid reader herself. The day she bought me this notebook, we… Read more »
We got so many awesome questions during the master class, and we couldn’t get through them all. That’s why I decided to hop on a live broadcast so I could answer some of these questions, particularly the ones focusing on the writing process. One theme that came up again and again in this session was… Read more »
Lots of people say they want to write a book about their life. Over the course of years and decades, they’ve amassed experiences and learned lessons that make for interesting reading and inspiration for others. That makes sense. We all have a story to tell – and really, more than one story. Which can make… Read more »
On May 30, 2020, NASA astronauts Bob Behken and Doug Hurley were launched in the Crew Dragon capsule by a Falcon 9 rocket, both capsule and rocket provided by SpaceX. The Falcon 9 returned safely to its barge. The next day, Behken and Hurley successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS). This was the… Read more »
