In 2021, I ended up reading about 80 books. I expanded beyond my usual preference for YA, checking out different fiction genres as well as a ton of nonfiction. My biggest secret? Reading two books at once–generally fiction on my kindle for about an hour before I fell asleep each night, and nonfiction throughout the… Continue reading 2021 – Books Read
Tag: stories
DITD – Soundtrack
If you know me, you know music is integral to my writing process. A song can inspire an entire scene, layout the motivations for a character, or perfectly encapsulate the mood. If there’s one song that kick-started my drafting Devil in the Daylight, it’s “Gun In My Hand” by Dorothy. The title was inspired by… Continue reading DITD – Soundtrack
Devil in the Daylight
Quick update on Blood and Water: I’ve been sent back to the drawing board with some suggestions from agents to revise and resubmit. I also read through it again recently, after having shelved it for almost a year, and I flippin loved it. So the good news is I have a spark of hope reignited… Continue reading Devil in the Daylight
Reflections on a Decade
I’ve been writing for over a decade now. I started in high school, though the stories I wrote then are so cringe-worthy I’d rather burn them than count them toward any sort of writing tally. In college, though, I took several creative writing courses, which helped me hone my craft and gave me a bit… Continue reading Reflections on a Decade
Sticks and Stones and Broken Stories
What’s in a sequel? Everything, apparently…
Query Update – January 2020
As of now, my full manuscript is still with an agent, and TWO other agents have my partial story. That’s right, my first response of the new year was a request rather than rejection, which is a lovely way to start 2020! I don’t have a timeframe for when I’ll hear back—if I’ve learned anything,… Continue reading Query Update – January 2020
High Hopes
Querying is hard. That’s kind of a no-brainer–crafting a business letter to basically say “I promise my story is good, please give me a chance!” is as bad as writing a cover letter for a job (I mean, essentially, it’s the same thing). For me, it’s been disheartening and nerve-wracking and left me wanting to… Continue reading High Hopes
Querying
Well, I did it! I sent out a query letter to a handful of agents! I’ve got to polish my synopsis and try to ease off tweaking my manuscript because it is time, baby! Or maybe not–I’ve got another list of agents to query next week. I’m hedging my bets a little bit and leaving… Continue reading Querying
Never-Ending Edits
I’m currently on draft number who-even-knows-anymore of my work in progress, Blood and Water. The cool thing is, every time I finish a draft, I feel really confident in it, like it’s the best I could ever accomplish. (To be fair, it really is my best work at that point in my life.) Then I… Continue reading Never-Ending Edits
Writing Vacation
Last week was a crazy adventure. In the course of 9 days, I spent over 24 hours in a car, 3 hours on a plane, and traveled to 5 cities in 5 different states to see friends, family, and watch the St. Louis Blues bring home the Stanley Cup (#LGB!). This came at a really… Continue reading Writing Vacation