A few years ago, a friend of mine, a young Spanish teacher named Gia, bought tickets to an Enrique concert. She has spent much of her adult life in love with the singer, Enrique Iglesias. He is her idol, someone she compares all other men to. His is the only music she listens to; her… Read more »
When I started to build a daily writing routine, I felt like the only thing keeping me company was self-doubt. Though I had set up my space with notes, books, a creative survival kit, and even a bulletin board of inspirational quotes, I felt like I needed a cheerleading team to root for me. If… Read more »
It’s been almost ten years since I graduated with my MFA in Creative Writing, so I’ve had a little time to reflect on the experience. Fresh from my graduation in 2012, I was certain I’d whip through finishing my novel and the book would be out the next year. Right? Wrong. It’s 2022, and my… Read more »
There is often a temptation to give your reader more than they really need, or, more importantly, want to know. For example, you describe a garden that is just coming into bloom and then go into minute detail about the flowers and trees. Your description includes the botanical names of three species from one genus,… Read more »
In some fiction, authors describe a place down to the color and quality of the dirt. In other books, specifics on the setting are barely incorporated and the goal is to infuse just the right amount of detail of place to connect it to the character’s journey. Personally, I had a crush on Vermont long… Read more »
It seems like everyone has a side hustle these days. In fact, roughly 59 million workers did some form of freelance work in recent years and the number is estimated to reach 90 million by 2028. Though everyone is freelancing, it doesn’t mean everyone is a freelancer. On the contrary, picking up a side gig… Read more »
One of the first things I ask a writer I’m working with is, “When do you want to be done with your book?” Sometimes people have a definite answer: “This year.” Sometimes they look at me and go, “Uhhh…”. The answer depends, of course, on how quickly they write, how much time they have to… Read more »
In life, rejection is inevitable. In publishing, it’s an absolute. Over the course of querying three novels and going out on submission three separate times, I have faced over five hundred rejections. And that’s not an exaggeration. Some were very difficult to handle, like the full requests that turned to no’s or the near offers… Read more »
My first experience with astrology was probably like many of yours: reading a horoscope for my sun sign in a magazine. As a Virgo, my horoscopes were generally about being tidy and organized and not being so critical. Which, sure. I could 100% use that advice. But I’m more than a pathological organizer with a… Read more »
For the first time ever, an editor had accepted one of my pitches. And he just so happened to work at a lit mag of my dreams. I dashed off my reply, mentally adding this triumph to my author bio, then looked at my calendar. I’d agreed to send him a 2,000-word personal essay on… Read more »
