“So are Ash and Skye going to get together or what?” my mom demanded after reading the latest installment of my Syzygy series. I stifled a groan. “Do you think I’m that predictable?” “No, I just know you.” Meaning she knows I’m a total sucker for a good ship. Since childhood, I’ve endured tedious book series and shark-jumping … More Shipping and Handling, Part 1: How to write romantic subplots
You’ve written the story, revised the draft, and edited the manuscript to near-perfection, all to reach this point: publication. But don’t start decorating that memento box for your rejection slips yet. The digital age has transformed the way people consume fiction, and consequently the way its distributed. Today’s authors now have more choices in distribution … More How to Write a Novel, Part 8: Publishing
Has a book ever consumed you? Hooked you so completely that you smuggle it to work and read surreptitiously under the desk, and stay up all night devouring chapters to find out what happens? I read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in one sitting, curled in my dad’s blue armchair that matched the … More How to Write a Novel, Part 3: Narrative Tension
Last night I began teaching my first creative writing class at a local college. The course helps participants launch their first novel, from the germ idea through the first chapters. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the discipline—Ernest Hemingway famously said that writing is a craft where no one ever becomes a master—I … More How to Write a Novel, Part 1: Turning an idea into a story
After a wild winter here in the mid-Atlantic, spring has finally arrived. Daffodils bob on the highway medians, the famous local cherry trees cast pink carpets under my feet when I run, and my Laddie gulps allergy pills with his morning coffee. I can’t wait to get my hands in the soil, but for the … More Cultivating Plots: How to Grow your Series
“Did you see the new Star Wars movie?” I texted my friend last weekend. He’s one of the few people in my circle who shares my lifelong affection for the franchise, so I was eager to discuss it with him. “No,” he replied. “I don’t want to see what they did to it.” For him, a … More Schrödinger’s Star Wars: Multiverses in Popular Fiction
Wild Type 