Revising Your Book

I get asked about revising a lot. A lot. I have been asked about the process so much that I crafted a workshop out of it. I can't give the same workshop every month, but it's a fairly vital topic. Writing and revising are not easy. First, there's the writing part, which is as arduous...

how I am

"How are you?" This is a dangerous question, today. On the way to work, my knuckles, already OCD-torn, cracked and bleeding, are white with strain. I pinch my nose. I do all the things I know to keep my mascara on my eyelashes, not all over my face. It isn't easy, because today marks exactly...

best of 2020 (so far)

I've been in quarantine more than I'd like this year. Being trapped at home has pushed me to escape into other worlds, and many of the ones I've found have been utterly engrossing. Given the sheer amount of content out there, I usually find new things via word of mouth. Here's what I've found and...

intimacy versus isolation

Due to quarantine, I've spent a lot of time this year reading, watching, and listening to stories in a way I haven't since my teens. As everyone now understands, isolation is not a state we are coded for. We are social creatures wired for connection and bonding, and in the COVID landscape, we're seeing massive...

fever dreams

Sickness is going around. The big sick. One we’ll always remember, because a lot of us have gotten it, and a lot of us didn’t get better. A sick I’ve been scared of, because I’ve been the kind of sick that gets you. And now, it feels very much like it’s gotten me again, and...

Agoraphobia in the time of COVID19

Today, the world outside was vibrant. Emerald green and daffodil yellow, a chaotic spray of pink cherry blossoms amongst crimson tulips. Spring has erupted in chartreuse moss and warm sunshine, and yet it feels like the sun is gone. I struggled with this feeling all day. A long-absent weight eased onto me, and I couldn't...

an answer to grief

It's February, but the weather around here has been more of a false spring. Balmy rains and warm weather tricked the trees into blooming early, and I wanted to buy into it. Last Thursday, I propped open the back door while I was in the dish pit, and kept finding reasons to go out to the...

A Murder of Angels OST, part 1.

Listen, us writer people, we need atmosphere. Music is instant atmosphere. I love it. I'm also peculiarly attached to the music I tend to write A MURDER OF ANGELS to. Since 8tracks occasionally goes all willy-nilly with licenses, here's the track listing, preserved safely for all time. 1. This is My Despair - Yuki Kajiura...

July Playlist

It's well past time to dust off this blog.  To start, here's a playlist for Rowan, a POV character in THE HOLLOW FOREST. A bit melancholy, a bit contemplative, all instrumental. Perfect writing music. If 8tracks isn't quite your thing, here's the track listing with YouTube links:  Near Light - Olafur Arnalds On the Nature...

seven months

The date took me by surprise today. I was scribbling down my schedule--I travel so much these days, it’s hard to keep the days straight--when I realized I’d forgotten what the day was. Grief is funny like that. It’s taken seven months, but here I am, finally at the point where it’s no longer piercing...

six months

There was a story you wrote, years ago. You were stuck, couldn't figure out what to write. Fits and starts of little things, but nothing that felt right until you struck upon what would become Under-London. I can't find it, now, because you took everything down in preparation for publication, but it started with a...