We’ve all read them—those little would-be jewels of description that make us pause, furrow our brow, and say “Huh?” We’ve all been guilty of them, too, especially in the early stages of our writing careers. They’re bad similes and metaphors, and they stick out from a manuscript like a sore thumb—but it can be difficult…
Category: General Interest
Why I Belong
Belonging has always been hard for me. I’m not a team player. In high school, when phys-ed was a team sport like softball, I asked to run the track instead. Yes, I was happier running laps alone for 50 minutes than playing with a group. My best sport was, unsurprisingly, track and field. Sprints. I…
Two steps from scattered–to focused!
I’ve been experiencing a little post-conference paralysis. Have you, too? The rosy conference glow has started to fade. Have you harnessed the energy and inspiration of the Colorado Gold, or, like me, have you slipped into the Dreaded Distractions? You know them — Email Youtube Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest …even Google Earth. All useful when…
I could hardly breathe, listening to Yunike’s story.
Our kids were playing marbles in the dirt road outside of her Borneo home. The electricity had been off in my friend’s neighborhood for hours. The stifling air added to her story, the heaviness of the moment turning into sweat running down my face. Yunike Hermanus, my Indonesian friend, was telling a part in her…
Finding the Courage to Walk Away
“Sometimes, the thing you most wish for is not to be touched.” The quote above comes from the musical Into the Woods and offers a caution that doesn’t apply only to fairy tales . . . it’s important advice for publishing too. It took me ten years, and five full-length manuscripts, to find an agent (and get…