Starting a new book is always a great adventure. The idea comes--so many different ways that can happen, from a dream, some intriguing resea...

I've always loved this quote by Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild: "The most powerful strand in memoir is not expressing your original...

Summer can be a distracting or deepening time for writers--depends how much you are pulled away by the plethora of activity and energy in wa...

Years ago, I attended a summer writing conference at one of the most renowned colleges in the US. A friend lived in the town, invited me to ...

I love literary fiction, rich nonfiction, travel memoir, all kinds of books, actually, that take me places. Every now and then, I also love ...

I've only slowly gotten used to my own stages of writerly reaction when I receive feedback. Positive feedback generates a warm satisfact...

One of my long-time students asked a great question: how does a writer develop voice? I wanted to make sure she was talking about the writer...

Hello-- Thanks for following my blog posts each week!  I've just learned that Feedburner will be discontinuing the automatic send to eac...

When we finish a good book, something lingers with us. We have coffee with a friend and she notices we're distracted. It's not life-...

One of the most challenging parts of assembling a good query letter--beyond the sheer difficulty of writing it--is deciding on your comps. A...