Columns

Hitting Your Stride: 7 Tips for Higher Word Counts in 2015

January 13th, 2015

The New Year is often a time when we take a good hard look at what we accomplished (or failed to) in the previous twelve months while looking ahead, in glory, to all we will accomplish in the year to come.

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The Big Six: A Glance Back at the History of Publishing

January 12th, 2015

The world’s first movable type printing technology was born in China in 1040, the Gutenberg press created its first Bible in the 1450s, and books have been symbols of status and wealth since the days of ancient Rome. Desktop publishing, on the other hand, has had since the early eighties to make its mark on the world, but digital technology has revolutionized the way words and ideas are consumed by the public.

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Five Books to Read in the Dead of Winter

January 9th, 2015

It's midwinter, Christmas is over, and you’re sick of the snow and cold. Looking down the barrels of January and February can be daunting, but here are five reads to help you embrace the bleakness. So grab a cup of tea and a blanket. Wallowing optional.

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Seeing Past The Clouds: A Kent Haruf Primer

January 9th, 2015

Image via Colorado Review Before I get started, this column is really just as much one reader’s remembrance as it is a primer on a writer’s small, but indelible body of work.

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Storyville: Ten Places to Send Your Fiction in 2015

January 8th, 2015

This column, I’d like to talk about some of the best places to send your stories in 2015—new markets that are just getting started, newer publications that are doing well, and classic magazines that are always a great idea.

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Readers Do Not Owe Writers Anything

January 8th, 2015

I witness interactions on social media every once in a while that go a little like this: Person A: “This book was so bad, I couldn’t even finish it. I gave up. It was just terrible.” Person B: “Oh, so you haven’t read it all? Then your criticism is worthless. Go die in a ditch, scum.”

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Saved By The Supporting Characters

January 7th, 2015

When it comes to fiction, I’m a character woman. A novel is nothing without an unforgettable protagonist, right? The plot can be nonexistent as long as the characters are well written and absorbing. Perhaps that’s why I’m surprised when I really enjoy a book with a lackluster main character. Sometimes, what is usually a let down will matter less because the supporting and peripheral characters are so compelling. The protagonists of these novels may not stand out, but the people they meet on their respective journeys sure do.

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Looking Back: Your Personal Year-End Review

January 7th, 2015

It's 2015, and you have all these goals, these plans for the future—writerly goals centered around getting published, one way or another, finishing your first novel, diversifying your reading beyond your genre comfort zones, etc. (insert personal resolutions here...). But what about the past, and in a roundabout way, the present? What events, goals and accomplishments have gotten you to this point? What mistakes? How can the roads you've traveled better equip you for the roads ahead?

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To Read or Re-Read: That Is The Question

January 6th, 2015

In a recent episode of the CBS news show, 60 Minutes, there was a long-ish piece on the Vatican Library. "There are more books in here than the human mind can fully comprehend," said a Vatican Library priest. As he spoke, the camera cut to the miles upon miles of shelves, filled to bursting with books, both modern and ancient.  Seriously ancient.  Ancient as in 2000 years old ancient.

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Path to Publication 3.4: Gearing Up For A Big Year, and How Deadlines Change Everything

January 5th, 2015

Polis Books will release my debut novel, New Yorked, in June, with the follow-up, City of Rose, tentatively slated to follow in October. This is a monthly column about taking a book over the finish line.

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