You know what breaks my heart?  When I follow up with someone who told me they want to write a book, but they still haven't made any progress. And it's over a year later. These are usually people who want to work with me but tell me they will "next quarter" or "they aren't ready…

Once upon a time, my little Corgi thought she couldn't jump on the bed. This was because we moved to a house with hardwood floors from our carpeted apartment. As a result, her legs would slip as she tried to get up, and she couldn't do it anymore. So we got a rug. At first,…

I went to Nantucket this past weekend, and it was pretty magical. No, I didn't see a giant white whale or see Emily Gilmore at the Whaling Museum. (Even though that would have been amazing.) I was doing something that I should be doing all the time: I was paying attention. I noticed that the…

You can't fail. No, really. You can't. Even if you don't sell a single book. Even if you get tons of bad reviews. Even if not a single soul reads it. Are those ideal results? Of course not. But it doesn't mean you failed. You see, the act of writing is a reward in itself.…

I am not going to lie to you; on Friday, I absolutely did not want to write. I had the kind of dread usually reserved for waiting at the MVA or watching children's television shows when babysitting. It would have been so easy to just blow it off and watch Four Weddings and a Funeral on…

Do you want to know how I know someone will never finish her book? She tells me, "I am going to write it next quarter."Or"I will write when I have more time."Or"I am not ready quite yet."Or"I will write when the stars perfectly aligned."Whenever people tell me these things, I follow up with them throughout the…

By the time I graduated from college, I had completed three novels. One was a political fairytale (I live in D.C., okay?); one was a modern retelling of the Arthur myth in high school (this was before Camelot High came out), and one was a modern retelling of the love story of Dante Gabriel Rossetti…

A surprising question that I hear a lot at parties (besides the D.C.-standard "What do you do?) is what do you wish writers knew? In an effort to answer this question once and for all so I can spend more time eating chocolate cupcakes at parties, I am doing a five-part series on what I…

In graduate school, I met one of the most magical professors. Not only was he a great teacher, but he was a wonderful human. When I took his manuscript class, he was so patient with me as I was nearly in tears as I tackled the challenging of not only translating text from Old English,…

Okay, if you have been online for more than five seconds, I am sure you have heard about self-care. I am sure you associate it with taking a break from your office job or parenting (okay, you can stop laughing now). Bubbles baths and scented candles are probably mentioned. I say forget that. Sure, I…