When we start writing, we often start with a grand idea. A plan. An aspiration. When I was in high school writing my first “novel” (it was 40 pages in Word), I wanted to write this epic romance novel. I named it “Chapter One” and had this female author get sucked into the world of...Read More

I’m working on a class about this, so that’s forthcoming, but I’ve been spending a lot of time lately thinking about and discussing what, exactly, this means. It is, in my opinion, vitally important (as you might have guessed by the fact that I’m creating a class about it). So what, exactly, do I mean...Read More

First, before all else, I want to share the announcement that my novel, “Fallen” is up for pre-order on Amazon. I could not be more excited, to be honest. After a decade on the publishing side of the writing world, I am finally entering it as an author. I’ve put out a bunch of short...Read More

Being an author also means you need to maintain that public-facing image. Which means marketing, acting appropriately in your public spaces, sharing parts of your life with the world (not all of it, but some), and so on. You are an author, not just a private citizen.Read More

There is this insidious mythology out there in the writerverse that once your book is picked up by a publisher (or you self-publish), you no longer need to do anything except sit back, bask in your own genius, and rake in the profits. Unfortunately, that cannot be further from the truth.Read More

These five conversations will do a lot to help you communicate effectively with your editor and save you a lot of misery, frustration, and money. It will also save the editor frustration and hair-pulling because these conversations are just as important for us to have.Read More

I keep having to make grumpy TikTok videos and Twitter posts because I keep running into bad writing advice. So much of it. Everything from, "word count doesn't matter!" to "editing is a waste of money" to "all critique is equal!" There's just so much of it, and it never fails to make my hair...Read More

Let me start by saying I don't hate long books. However, when it comes to the book publishing industry, there are a lot of reasons why your epic fantasy isn't being published. And, contrary to popular opinion, it has absolutely nothing to do with dwindling attention spans or readers not wanting it.Read More

The point of a genre isn't to pidgeonhole your book. The point is to market your book to people interested in what you're writing. Ultimately, the key here is to remember that your genre is nothing more than a marketing tool; it doesn't really describe your book.Read More

A lot of writers I meet talk about how they aren't sure they can write because they have ADHD, dyslexia, or various other learning disorders, neurological conditions, or other such difficulties that impact their ability to write. With that in mind, I thought I'd write about how I do it because I am neurodivergent and...Read More