August 15, 2019
I would argue that every protagonist in fiction needs a major character flaw. Part of the satisfaction of reading comes from finding out how a character […]
November 16, 2018
Sometimes it feels like my creativity is drying up—or that I never had much creativity to begin with. Where do story ideas come from? Why aren’t […]
June 12, 2017
Every protagonist in fiction needs a major character flaw. Part of the satisfaction of reading comes from finding out how a character changes for the better. Of […]
February 4, 2017
In part 1, I talked about how writing for a young-adult audience can be challenging, especially given that I graduated high school thirty years ago. This […]
February 4, 2017
When I began seriously pursuing writing as a career, I didn’t intend to write for young adults. My book, A WORK OF ART, was originally aimed […]
November 15, 2016
Writers spend a lot of time on character and plot, which of course are very important, but remember that your story will be boring without CONFLICT. […]
October 14, 2016
As a writer, I loathe setting the scene. I’ve literally spent hours going over the same few paragraphs to make sure I “got it right,” only […]
January 25, 2016
I recently had the honor to sit on the First-Books Panel at the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators Florida Regional Conference, and while it […]
May 30, 2015
People have asked me how hard it was to write about child sexual abuse in A Work of Art. It’s a touchy subject—raw and often shameful […]
May 14, 2015
My muse is an elusive thing. Sometimes it swells my chest and comes out through my fingertips, but most of the time, it stays locked in […]
April 28, 2015
A WORK OF ART is a first-person narrative, but the main character’s flashbacks are told in third person. This was a deliberate choice on my part […]
April 5, 2015
I remember studying symbolism in high school after reading a short story called “The White Heron” by Sarah Orne Jewett. The story is filled with symbolism, […]