If you have a minute, swing by Emu’s Debuts where I talk about revising UnFairy Tale Life. And then check back on Wednesday when my awesome editor will discuss the editorial process behind the book. Also, today is the last day to enter my August/September Debut Novel Giveaway. (It’s international!) Last week I talked about how [...]
[One last reminder about two upcoming events: I'll be at B&N in Burlington, Mass. tonight at 7pm, and I'll be at the Ames Free Library in Easton, Mass. tomorrow at 2pm. Come for the books; stay for the origami, mini-golf, and cookies!] A while back I blogged about Unearthly by Cynthia Hand and how it [...]
I’m sure I’ve talked about this before, but I’ve been thinking a lot about it lately: an idea is not a story. An idea is the seed of a story, but it takes a lot of work to get that seed to bloom into something full and complete. Part of why this has been on [...]
Just a reminder that you still have a week to enter to win a personalized ARC of My Very UnFairy Tale Life. And I’m also giving away two signed copies of the book on Goodreads. Last week, I read a great book called Fracture by Megan Miranda (thanks to NetGalley). The story was fascinating and [...]
I’ve been working 0n revising my Camp NaNo project, which has been a difficult feat so far. The character has been tricky to pin down, so I finally had to put the manuscript aside and do some free writing to try to get into her head more. I had her tell me about her goals [...]
It’s time for another installment of the “Best Advice I Ever Got” series. Today’s writing wisdom comes from YA fantasy author Carmen Ferreiro-Esteban. Best Advice I Ever Got: Start Your Book in Chapter Two. Where to begin? That was for me the most difficult part when writing a novel. From the beginning, I knew my [...]
I’ve been working on a light tween fantasy the past couple months (my Camp NaNo project to be exact) and I finally managed to get the draft into somewhat decent shape so I could send it to a couple of critique partners. Their responses were what I’d been afraid of: the beginning is boring and [...]
As I’ve been working on a new tween project, one thing that’s been really tripping me up is scene/chapter endings. This story isn’t quite as plot-driven as some of my other projects, so the chapter endings need to rely more on internal than external tension. I’ve found that this approach has led me to some [...]
I’ve been meaning to read Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat for years now, so after I finally read it over the weekend, I was kicking myself for not getting to it sooner. I’ve discovered that books on screenwriting help me tremendously when I’m struggling with plot, and the way Snyder explains structure really clicked with [...]
I’m currently reading Tess Hilmo’s upcoming book, With a Name Like Love, which comes out this September. (I feel very special to be able to read it before it’s actually out!) The thing that grabbed me right away about this book was the mood, so I wanted to take a closer look at it. Now [...]
