Tuesday, I broke from my normal kids-computer-kids routine and went into the city. On the plus side, it was a balmy 50-something degrees. On the minus, it was raining and windy in the way that turns your umbrella inside-out fifty-five times before you’ve even walked a block. Needless to say, I looked like a drowned rat [...]

47,416 words and I’m out. Is the book done? Heck no. But it wouldn’t have been done even if I spent four more weeks on it or six to eight months, like I usually do. It’s a draft and, by definition, drafts are nothing but a start. And mine usually stink. Is it any worse than [...]

I’ve been holding off writing this post until I had the happy ending, but since we’re not quite there yet, I figured it was time. If you’ve read this blog at all, you probably know that I’ve been working on my current manuscript (formerly The Box, now How It Ends) for a while. I finally finished a draft, had some [...]

Between revisions and the Olympics, who has time to blog? Not this girl, obviously. But now that gymnastics are over (they are, right? because I’m not sure how many more nights I can stay up that late), I’m going to jot a bit about how things shook out with reader vs. agent feedback. A while back, [...]

I tweeted about it last week, but 140 characters doesn’t usually cut it on the blog and I couldn’t squeeze in more with all the work we’ve been doing.  So, The Announcement: I’ve signed with a new agent, Melissa Sarver of Elizabeth Kaplan Lit. If you don’t know Melissa, let me tell you a few things about her: 1. [...]

Finally.  Well, for now since this is just the smoothed-over draft and I really have no idea whether or not it might suck completely.   At this stage, lots of different things can happen to a manuscript, depending on where you are contractually.  Sometimes, after a book or two, writers sell fiction on proposal, which means their publisher buys based on [...]

The Online Launch Party continues!  Read the giveaway rules, prize list and enter here.  In the beginning, there was an idea:  what if you knew it was someone’s day to die?  I don’t actually remember when it came to me, but I do remember telling a friend about it at dinner one night, not long after.  By [...]