The Writing Life

When I have consultation calls with straight white cis writers, there will very often be an almost whispered question where the writer sheepishly asks if publishers still want books by people like them. They see so many agents and editors calling for books by diverse authors. Is their book dead on arrival? The authors I […]

“There was sanctuary in the library…from the storms of our family and our anxious minds. Libraries are like the mountains, or the meadows behind the goat lady’s house: sacred space.” – Anne Lamott On a quiet afternoon this week, I decided to work on my novel-in-progress in my local library. I sat in a wooden […]

When I first decided to become a writer I expected several things: that I’d get rejected a lot, that my writing would be terrible, and that I’d be broke. All of these things did indeed happen. However, what I didn’t expect is that I’d make friends. It turns out the constant rejection and the grueling […]

We’ve all experienced the sickening dread when computers crash mid-email or mid-project. Did I save it in time? Did I lose everything? Now imagine that this happens to your novel or manuscript. If you’re like me, it instantly fills you with terror. So how can you make sure that your manuscript is never lost?  In […]

If you are writing a book and plan to show it to the world, you’re embracing a process where there will be an endless array of forces outside of your control. It’s impossible for any one person to predict how successful a book will be prior to publication. There isn’t a formula for marketing a […]