It’s a big milestone year for us – several notable birthdays, graduations, and celebrating 25 years of being married to my best friend and love of my life. When my son suggested we travel to Japan to honor such a momentous year, we said “hai!” For the next several months we planned the trip, researched… Read more »
Big Ideas
Three Things My Kids Taught Me This Year
Things in Pittsburgh come in threes. Three rivers, three eagles on the city coat of arms, three kids in our family. Each of my kids is in a different stage of their educational journey. My oldest is midway through the traditional four year college experience. My middle just graduated high school. My youngest completed his… Read more »
Savoring Every Page
I read around 200 books a year. I read for research, especially if I’m working on a project for a client. I read many books for pleasure, and many books to learn what’s working the market this year. Most of the time, those categories overlap. I read each book thoroughly, but quickly. I need to… Read more »
Things I Learned from Running that Help Me as a Writer
I’ve been a writer for a long time. I have bags of old journals and bins of old stories. I’ve also been a runner for a long time. I’ve learned a lot from both that help me with both passions. Here are some things I’ve learned. There’s always someone faster. This is true about running,… Read more »
Gifts for Writers
It’s the time of year for gift giving. And it’s not always easy to find great gifts for writers. How do you wrap up a publishing contract? So I’ve gathered up twelve wonderful pieces of writing advice that I’ve gathered in notebooks over the years. Hopefully these carry you through the next year of writing…. Read more »
Milestones Matter
The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. That’s what I wanted for my writing career: a nice, straight short line from typing my opening lines to holding my published (and well-reviewed) book in my hands. I should have known it wouldn’t happen like that. I already know that the most interesting stories… Read more »
Three Ways Reading Picture Books Helps Me Write Better Novels
I love reading picture books. Yep, I’m turning 49 this year and I read almost 200 picture books every year!! I teach a graduate writing class about picture books and an after school club on writing picture books. But I also read them for pure enjoyment because I love picture books. I write picture books,… Read more »
The Three O’s You Need in Every Scene
Writing a gOOOd bOOOk How do you write a book? Word by word, sentence by sentence, and SCENE BY SCENE. Strong scenes show readers what they need to know about your main character: their secrets, their struggles, and their successes. There are three O’s you need in every scene you’re writing. I wish I could… Read more »
Three Things From Movies that Make Books Fun
Summer blockbusters are all about fun. So while you’re at movie nights in the park, pay attention to these three things from movies that you can add to your book and make it lots of fun! Mini Quests! We rewatched the first Percy Jackson movie after the new streaming series came out. I realized that… Read more »
The Parenting Olympics
The Olympics start July 26 in Paris and I’m so excited! I love the Olympics. I love watching dreams come true, and sympathize with the heartache. The personal stories pull me in, and I am captivated by the way people around the world work toward a common finish line, a new height, a faster time,… Read more »