Tomorrow I'm headed to Prince Edward Island for a long weekend. This is no easy feat. From my house in Massachusetts, it takes a
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Need a Great Summer Read? Want to Avoid a Bad One?
As always, I use summer as an excuse to plow through the books collecting on my nightstand (as well as under it). To qualify as a “great summer
Read MoreTurning Family Stories into Novels: The Boy in the Back Bedroom
My mother tells better stories than anyone. As a child, my favorite was about the time she babysat for a family in her rural Maine town. The parents
Read MoreShould You Hire a Book Publicist?
“So, what's your publisher doing to promote your novel?” a friend asked when I sold my second book. The truth was that I had no idea. Something,
Read MoreWhat Does Your Book Cover Say?
I imagine it isn't easy to be an art director at a big publishing house like Penguin Random House. You get descriptions of books by the dozen and
Read MoreHow Long Does a Novel Take to Write?
I binged this past weekend. Not on reality TV or chocolate or martinis, but on writing. I booked a cheap off-season condo in Maine and wrote 17,822
Read MoreFrom Programming Robots to Writing Novels, Creativity is the Thing
As a novelist married to a software engineer, I'm often struck by how opposite we are. The most glaring difference is that my husband's computer
Read MoreWriting Genre Fiction? Push the Envelope.
Whether you're writing a mystery series or fantasy, so-called "literary fiction" or romances, the common view is that writers must brand themselves as
Read MoreWhat Keeps a Woman Writing? Other Women Who Write.
Any woman who works knows there isn't enough time in the day to get everything done. Even before we start our paid jobs, we've put in hours of labor:
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