I’m up to 53,300 words on the newest manuscript which translates to almost two-hundred pages or about 95% of the finished versions of The Mark and Vision.  This book is definitely not 95% done.  I’m not really sure how close it is, I’m just going to keep writing until the idea bin for it is empty.  That’s how first drafts go.  They’re my [...]

After weeks of my dawdling around on facebook and ebay and Allie Brosh’s blog (which is totally hilarious and worth any amount of time), Book 3 is finally picking up speed.  I’m up to 36,000 words (The Mark and Vision both ended up around 58,000), but more significant was today’s moment.  I was writing dialogue between two characters, it was flowing pretty well, then out [...]

Someone asked me the other day if it cost a lot to get my book published.  No, I told her, when you sell your book to a publisher, they pay you and take on the costs of producing it.  It doesn’t cost anything.  Which is only partially true, because as any writer will tell you, a big [...]

I feel like I’m asking myself this every day.  The Mark has been out for months.  The sequel, Vision, has been finished for months and is in the long process of production – edits, re-edits, line-edits, cover design, yadda, yadda.  It’s time for Book Three. The problem is I’m having The. Hardest. Time. focusing on it.  Which I can’t believe since it’s already half [...]

I’m guest posting today over at Book Lovers Inc. about the evolution of my writing process from Book One to Book Two.  You can check it out here.  Have a great day!

True confession: I expected to hate blogging.  Having a blog never crossed my mind until I started reading about stuff you should do if you have a book coming out.  I hemmed and hawed for a while and finally decided to give it a try.  Imagine my surprise when I found I actually liked it.   I’ve long been a fan of blogs [...]

When I was having my website done, I didn’t do a FAQ section since it would only have included stuff like can I have some chocolate milk? and will you draw cars with me?  But now that The Mark’s been out for a few months, there actually are book-related questions that come up pretty regularly so, if you’ve been wondering… [...]

The most surprising thing to me in the publishing process for The Mark was how much editing is done after a manuscript is sold.  As a first-time author, I’d assumed it would just be minor changes – copy edits, maybe tweaking a few plot points – since so much time is spent polishing the novel before submission.  Not [...]

I’m guest posting today at Beth Fish Reads as part of her Literary Road Trip feature that spotlights Pennsylvania – or in my case, former PA – authors.  Check it out for the story behind a Reading, PA landmark and my thoughts on literary symbolism.

On the Tenners we do a Top Ten every Monday.  This was going to be mine, but I came up with something different and since I’d already written most of it, I figured why let it go to waste?  So here it is.   My Top Ten: Things Not Meant to Teach Writing That Have Made Me Better At It 1. [...]