Blog

We have a problem. Or, more accurately, I have a problem.

Back on Christmas, I told my cousin that I had started rerooting a Barbie head because I wanted a gray-haired Barbie. You may recall this project, though I would forgive you if you don't because I started it years ago. (Yes, I said years.) Right now my poor partially rerooted Barbie head is lying on the pile of junk mail to be shredded.

I am hardwired to respond to goals and deadlines, so after mentioning the project to my cousin, I...

I left off Phase 1 just as our developmental edit lands in our inbox. We’ve already cycled through the anticipation, the dread, the acceptance, all of which has come from our own minds. Now it’s real. Now it’s an email with attachments. Now it’s time to face the music.

We left off with “how bad can it be?” which, let’s be honest, is our brain’s way of buffering our nervous creative self with the worst-case scenario so we can (hopefully) be pleasantly surprised. This is a good time to remind...

Last year, I booked an editor to do a full developmental edit on my first historical mystery. As I sit typing this, I know the edit will come back to me soon. I’m equal parts antsy and nervous. My response to edits is multipronged and goes something like this:

• Ooh! Someone read my book! What did they think? Tellmetellmetellme!
• What if they didn’t like it?
• What if they hated it?
• I hope they liked something about it
• What if they have nothing constructive to tell me?
• Maybe I should open the...

It was a good year for reading. I found new authors, enjoyed new books by favorite authors, and lucked into some books that have been around for a while that somehow missed me. This list is massively swayed by my own personal interests, but I recommend them all.

Let's start with my favorite book of the year!

LET'S CALL HER BARBIE by Renée Rosen

I've enjoyed several books by Renée Rosen and this one is my favorite. This is the story of Ruth Handler's days at...

I have an ongoing interest with the lives of women during the mid-century years. What work they found, the challenges they faced, their victories and their battles.

If you enjoy non-fiction 20th century history with a focus on women, here are five stand-out non-fiction reads you won't want to miss. (All links go to Goodreads).

I had a career in fashion before...

A few years ago, I discovered that I have a tendency to reuse certain phrases, so I made a graphic for that stage when I think the book is done but it hasn't yet gone off to an editor. It's helped to turn this into a game of sorts: do a search for the word or phrase, see how many times I've used it, and then knock it down as far as I can. I can get "really" from over fifty to under three. I'm allowed one "turns out," "all things considered," and "despite the fact" per manuscript.

I remember...

*I first wrote this over a decade ago, and aside from a questionably provocative title, the advice still stands.

It’s the day –that day—that you agreed to step in front of your reading public to promote your book. Maybe it’s a book fair. Maybe it’s a signing. Maybe it’s a table by the checkout line at the grocery store. Whatever/wherever it is, one thing is for sure. Where you’re going is like another dimension to the writer, it’s the polar opposite of sitting in a chair not speaking,...

This originally appeared in the Weekly DiVa, a weekly email that goes out to members of my readers club. If you'd like to receive it every Sunday morning, you can sign up here.

Football season is back. I enjoy football more now than I ever did in the past, and some of that is because I get inspired by the game, the players, and the mindset of athletes in general. I don't get too down when my team loses, especially early in the season, because those losses are like guide rails that indicate...