Facing Old Fears to Save Lost Sweaters

August 30, 2015.Reading time 1 minute.

I swore I would never do it again. But, when my friend cancelled at the last minute a couple weeks ago, old sweaters and my mom were counting on me so I had not choice but to brave the camera after 20 years in retirement. All the hats posted on Bricolage Hats are made out of old wool sweaters, making […]

Cover pages and other ways to lose friends . . .

August 23, 2015.Reading time 2 minutes.

The good news: my first round of cover proofs are in! The bad news: I am way pickier than I realized. On of my friends put together these mages for my novel cover earlier this week and while they are totally gorgeous they are totally not what I have been imagining in my […]

Why all writers should be fluent in Dr. Dre

August 12, 2015.Reading time 1 minute.

A radio producer once told me I sound like I have rocks in my mouth when I talk. She was not the first. People have been asking me if I’m from somewhere else all my life. I’m not. That thing they think is some kind of exotic backstory is just a big fat lazy tongue. Or maybe it’s […]

My Self-Publishing Experiment: THE COVER

August 11, 2015.Reading time 2 minutes.

First off, let’s be clear: I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I’M DOING. However, I spent enough time waiting for boys to call when I was 15 (note to teen self: they never do) to know when it’s time to stop doing the same thing with literary agents. That’s right, I have decided to embark on […]

Why Blog: self leadership for writers

June 29, 2014.Reading time 1 minute.

Sometimes I wonder why I bother. Most things I do, experience, clean the dishes, revise budgets, edit my manuscript, have a distinct goal in mind. Money. Fitness. Clean counters. But not for this. I have spent probably hundreds of hours creating posts for my blog with no clear outcome in mind. Sometimes I think I […]

My secret writing shame…and why I should never wear sandals

May 19, 2014.Reading time 2 minutes.

Let me just introduce myself by saying that the piece I am about to read completely sucks. In fact, so do I. I didn’t exactly put it that way at my writing group yesterday, but as one of my reviewers put it, by opening up my excerpt by confessing that my work is ‘low-brow’ young adult faction, […]

Mother’s day confession: I only have three stickers on my SUV…and I may be okay with that

May 11, 2014.Reading time 2 minutes.

So, when are you going to have the next one?” said my friend Dan yesterday, a half peeled banana in one hand. I was standing with some friends outside of a school playground—none of us quite yet ready to face the buckles and straps waiting in our cars. Two held jiggling infants in their arms while […]

Got feedback? Let me resent you for it

May 4, 2014.Reading time 2 minutes.

I am not good at feedback. Whenever someone in my writing group says anything that is the least bit critical about my work I hate their guts for about 3 – 30 seconds, depending on how much cheese I have consumed. Once I actually process said critique, I am always Incredibly Grateful for the insight they have gifted […]

Project GET MY MOM TO BLOG

April 27, 2014.Reading time 2 minutes.

My mother has started making hats out of old sweaters. When I suggested she start a blog about her repurposed creations, my mom responded by scrunching up her nose like I just gave her tickets to an Eminem concert. “Why would I do that?” she said. I tried to tell her about all the amazing wool […]

Vulnerability: lessons from writing on living (with help from Brene Brown)

March 23, 2014.Reading time 1 minute.

I wrote a memoir manuscript once. It wasn’t very good. I could tell when one of the teen readers I work-shopped it with scrunched up her nose and said she just didn’t connect with the voice. Years later I finally understand what it was lacking. It’s the same thing that makes ‘evil-doing’ characters into ones that […]