Posts Tagged ‘something missing’
Are my books a window into my soul?
Elysha met a person who read my first novel, Something Missing, and refuses to read any more of my books because after reading the first, she is worried that I’m a nefarious person. I wrote a novel about a burglar who breaks into home and only steals items that wouldn’t be noticed missing (and ultimately…
Read MorePulling back the curtain on the translation process
I’ve been fortunate enough to have my novels translated and published in more than 25 countries around the world. Just this week I heard from readers in Mexico, France, Brazil, and Australia, including two students who are reading Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend in school and one woman who strongly believes that Something Missing must be…
Read MoreGreat first sentences (and an analysis of the first sentences of my own novels)
I have no definitive favorite first line of a novel, though I am partial to the first line of Slaughterhouse Five: “All this happened, more or less.” Also, Fahrenheit 451: “It was a pleasure to burn.” Of all my books, I like the first sentence of Chicken Shack, my unpublished novel that will hopefully see…
Read MoreBook Club Adventures on Planes and Trains and Automobiles (sort of)
Since I published my first novel in 2009, I have attended well over 100 book club meetings both in person and over Skype with people from all over the world who have read my books. While I love speaking in book stores and libraries whenever given the opportunity, it’s always a special honor to be…
Read MoreAn important (and painful) lesson about the people closest to me and the things I write
One of my wife’s friends told me yesterday that she reads this blog daily and feels like she has an oddly intimate relationship with me as a result. Then she said that there have been times when she has told my wife that she loved something I wrote on my blog, only to discover that…
Read MoreI was bullied by a bunch of middle-aged pencil pushers. And it hurt.
About eight years ago, I was in search of a writer’s group. I had just sold my first novel and was hoping to find some colleagues of sorts to meet with and share my struggles and seek solutions. I was new to the writing business and had many questions. Also, writing can be a lonely…
Read MoreToday I feel like a real author – which doesn’t happen often – and not for any reason that you might imagine.
I’m not sure if other authors feel this way, but most days, I don’t feel like a real author. Its ridiculous but true. I’ve published three novels – two with Doubleday and one with St. Martin’s Press – and I have a fourth publishing in September. My last book was translated into more than 25…
Read MoreWorking hard for the money: 2014 update
A few years ago, I posted a list of all the jobs I have held in my life in chronological order. It was an interesting exercise that I highly recommend. Things have changed since I first posted the list, so here is my updated list: 1. Farm laborer, Blackstone, MA: When I was 12-years old,…
Read More“Where do you get your ideas?” is an understandable but impossible-to-answer question for authors. But “Nuns at Scout camp” will be one of my answers someday.
I’m often asked where I get my ideas for books, which is an understandable but impossible question to answer. There is no well of ideas. There is no secret formula. There is no one answer to that question, as much as fledgling writers seem to want there to be. Simply put, I hear something. I…
Read MoreRemember Tank Man.
Twenty-five years ago today, a man stood before a column of Chinese tanks on the morning after the Chinese military had suppressed the Tiananmen Square protests by force. In doing so, he became a symbol of courage for the rest of the world. His name and his fate remain unknown. Some have identified the man…
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