where deadly meets fabulous
Like the forever sagging waist band on my stretch jeans, something about my latest manuscript is not working. Despite a few strong elements, it just doesn’t seem to crackle, pop, or even fizz, and I wasn’t sure why till I read this quote from Shannon Hale about the importance of telling a story that doesn’t come […]
Read MoreIf it was up to me, I would probably spend every minute I am not sleeping or drinking coffee so I don’t have to sleep, or going to Starbucks to get said coffee, or peeing in the bathroom because coffee always has that effect on me, writing. Naturally, it took me a very, […]
Read MoreMy mom is away this week, visiting my sister in Montreal. And though it’s only been four days so far, already I am going a little crazy without someone to sub me off of Toddler-dom and set my fingers free. Yes, I love spending time with my son, but creativity, when not regularly unleashed […]
Read MoreDon’t quit your day job—at least so says Oscar Wilde in a recently discovered letter, advising a young writer that one of the most important things a successful writer can do is not depend on their craft for income. For those of us that would love to devote our time to that thing we are most passionate about, […]
Read MoreWriting groups. Like blogs and sea monkeys, they are born with such enthusiasm and yet so often stall and die after a very short time. I have been a member of at least three that have long since expired, which was why I was very much inspired to read this post by Alaya Dawn Johnson, […]
Read MoreThe first page is the most valuable property in a book. If a reader doesn’t feel compelled to get beyond those first few paragraph than the rest might as well be pi numerals. I have been told this many times by editors, and yet one of the biggest pieces of feedback I got about a recent manuscript was that […]
Read MoreDoes this shirt make me look like a sack of onions? Should I really have spent that much on a cup of coffee? Did I actually just say that? My life is full of self doubt, and the time I spend writing is no exception. And though I don’t know if there is any real […]
Read MoreI love Pixar. Pretty much any time I see a lamp hopping across the screen at the start of a show I know I can expect the next two hours to be a good time, full of all kinds of fun and silly unexpected twists. SQUIRREL! Which is why when Emma Coates says jump, I say, when, […]
Read MoreAs much as I love reading books, what I love even more is the stuff that isn’t on the page: the journey that the author took to creating their finished work. In so many cases, this story can be just as dramatic as the works themselves–such as with this one, about how a pair of […]
Read More“The road to hell is paved with adverbs.” Stephen King, On Writing. I received some feedback from an agent friend of mine a couple weeks ago and have been doing a lot of work revising the manuscript in question lately. However, when I got to the part where she suggested I cut out any words not […]
Read MoreThe Canadian Arts & Fashion Awards Blog
#kathenaskloset
Book reviews, the occasional rant, and more
