A couple of months ago I was driving my 13-year-old son to baseball practice, and I inadvertently got in the wrong lane at a stop light. I had to cut into the right lane, and the guy behind me beeped in annoyance.“I know,” I muttered. “Sorry.”“Think he heard you?” my son t … [Read more...]
Turning the Tables on a Bad Writing Day
You can tell when it’s stacking up to be a bad writing day.You look at the list of non-writing stuff that needs to get done, throw up your hands and think, No possible way.Or the thought of whatever project you’re working on ignites that gnawing insecure feeling that his … [Read more...]
Home: Real, Sung or Imagined
My youngest son, age 10, was a little nervous about spending a week at Boy Scout camp. He knew the scouts don’t prissy around with luxury items like cabins and food that anyone might actually want to eat. But that wasn’t what worried him. It was the homesickness.My husband and … [Read more...]
Following: A Good Man’s Great Act of Love
Three years ago, my sister-in-law Mary was living the life she’d always hoped for. Parenting two beautiful 12-year-old twin girls with her partner of 17 years, working in highly respected position, and living on Cape Cod—it had all come together for her.On December 9, 2010, it … [Read more...]
The Healing Power of Fiction
The best fictional characters are the ones we would be friends with if they weren’t so … you know … fictional.Not to say our favorite book-friends are perfect—their shortcomings are what make them intriguing. Their struggles become our struggles, as we hope, page after page, t … [Read more...]
Desperately Seeking Anne Tyler: Starting a Novel and Looking for Inspiration
I’m about to start writing a new novel and I’m slightly terrified.What makes it so gut-twisting scary? I really have no idea. I’ve done it before and survived without any noticeable scars. In fact, once I’d started it was rather pleasant. I love spinning a story, birthing the … [Read more...]
My Next Big Thing
Thanks to my friend and Beyond the Margins co-blogger, Dell Smith, I’ve been invited to participate in an online literary blog called My Next Big Thing.The blog is a series of questions about my work-in-progress. Many national and international writers have participated. It g … [Read more...]
20 Authors Want to Give You A Valentine’s Day Present
My writer-pals and I want to show our love this Valentine's Day by giving away our books. You can win up to 20, including THE SHORTEST WAY HOME. Meg Waite Clayton, author of THE WEDNESDAY SISTERS, came up with the wonderful idea of how to do it. Just go to A 20-Book Valentine’s D … [Read more...]
Where I Write: Authors on their Favorite—and Strangest—Work Places
“Mom! Where are my cleats?!”This is not conducive to writing.Like interruptions to any work of focus, intrusions make the headlong forward motion of imagining a scene, dialogue, motive, setting, physical movement and internal turmoil grind to a screeching, asphalt scr … [Read more...]