Jun 19, 2024 | On Writing
“The scariest moment is always just before you start. After that, things can only get better.” –Stephen King Getting started is sometimes the hardest part of writing. As I began book seven of my Mercy Carr series, I found myself uncharacteristically unable to begin....
Apr 17, 2024 | On Writing
“There’s always the next book.” Louise DeSalvo That’s what Louise DeSalvo says. DeSalvo is the author of The Art of Slow Writing, which I purchased as a kind of hair shirt and read as a kind of guilty pleasure. As a mystery writer expected to turn out a book a year,...
Nov 29, 2023 | On Mindfulness, On Writing
This time of year, happiness is a blazing fire, a glass of wine, and a good book. Here in New England, where winters are long and cold and buried in snow, ‘tis the season for reading. My TBR pile is high—and so are my ambitions. Because while reading is one of my...
Nov 22, 2023 | On Writing
Persistence counts. In the film A Million Miles Away, Jose Hernandez’s teacher tells the migrant workers’ kid who dreams of being an astronaut that “persistence is your superpower.” (If you haven’t seen this film, based on Hernandez’s real-life story, do. It’s a...
Sep 20, 2023 | On Writing
Can you really teach someone to write? That’s the question that has been debated since the first aspiring writer asked a successful author to show them how to tell a good story. Indeed, teaching and writing often go hand in hand. Many famous authors have supported...