2021 To-Done: writing through a pandemic

In the first stages of the pandemic, we saw everyone “taking the opportunity” to learn new stills and take on new projects “to fill the time.” Everyone loved to say how “Shakespeare wrote King Lear while in quarantine.” I had been doing research for a new story, but no new ideas for how to actuallyContinue reading “2021 To-Done: writing through a pandemic”

Going Forward

At the PNWA conference this summer, I attended a presentation called “What to Expect When You’re Publishing.” I asked the presenter a question that’s been gnawing at me for years… How do you know? We’re told that you should only start querying agents when your novel is as good as it can possibly get. But we’reContinue reading “Going Forward”

The time I met Kate DiCamillo and everything was wonderful forever

It was 2003 and I was a senior in high school when I first saw the newly published The Tale of Despereaux on a bookstore shelf. I remembered a quote from my high school English/Theatre/Creative Writing teacher: “‘Don’t judge a book by its cover.’ Bull$#!&! Judge it!” And I did. I looked at the illustrationContinue reading “The time I met Kate DiCamillo and everything was wonderful forever”