Weblogs
Pen names
Nathan Bransford recently posted about pen names, recommending that unless the reasons are compelling, there is no reason to use a pseudonym. While I tend to agree, I can’t help but think that Mark Twain is so much better than Samuel Clemens. And so apropos. And Lemony Snicket is much more fun than Daniel Handler.…
Read MoreGoodness
Overconfidence
Last month, Nathan Bransford wrote a post centering on five lessons he learned about writing from watching reality television. It’s an amusing and insightful piece, and I thought his first lesson was the most pertinent: “Overconfidence is your greatest adversary.” As a published author, I have received many requests from fledgling writers for help in…
Read MoreTuesday Teaser
Blogger Wendy Morris of Well-Mannered Frivolity recently wrote a post about Something Missing, which I thought was interesting and unique. Wendy’s politics and mine are like oil and water, but our fondness for books might allow us to be friends nevertheless. She writes: Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should…
Read MoreWaiting is the worst
My favorite literary agent in the whole world (and one of my favorite people in the world) is Taryn Fagerness. I am proud to call her my agent and my friend. She is a brilliant professional and my hero. Hero? Heroine? I don’t know. I think hero sounds better, but if she likes heroine, that…
Read MoreStrange things afoot at the Circle K
Photographer and artist Paho Mann has photographed almost two dozen re-inhabited Circle K convenience stores in the Phoenix, New Mexico area. As the company began moving its stores to more profitable locations in the 1990s, “the shells left by this migration were filled by small businesses, each inhabiting an architecturally identical structure. The new occupants…
Read MoreAwkwardFamilyPhotos.com
Two things: 1. I can picture any number of the characters from my books appearing on this blog someday. 2. If I ever need a writing prompt, an idea for a story, or just the impetus for a new character, could there be anything more inspiring than photographs like these?
Read MoreWriters Read
Writer-producer Marshal Zeringue invited me to post on his Writers Read blog, where I had the opportunity to write about the books I am currently reading. The same post appears on The Campaign for the American Reader blog, also hosted by Zeringue. Enjoy!
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