If all of the “How to write a book” advice is legit, then I’m quite the shit writer. Don’t get me wrong: I am more than willing to believe that I’m a shit writer. But wow, am I ever failing to check off some boxes. If you spend any time at all on the internet and show an interest in
Read more“How’s the second book coming?” That’s a very nonspecific question. At the time, I just gave my standard answer — “I don’t freaking know!” He clarified and asked how far along I was. Oh. See, that is specific. That, I can answer. “I don’t freaking know!” If it ends up being roughly the same length as the first, then I’m
Read moreI know a guy who loves to gesture at his screen and the eighty-bajillion tabs that he has open in his browser and invite people to marvel at his multitasking genius. I once pointed out that he’s still only looking at them one at a time, and he looked at me like I’d just kicked his puppy. I don’t particularly
Read moreYou’d think that writing the book would be the hardest part. Me? I’m tripping all over the “about the author” page like I’m trying to climb Everest wearing flip-flops and a winning smile. (All of those things are the stuff of fiction: I would never climb Everest, I would never wear flip-flops, and… you get the drift. Around here, “winning
Read moreI was done. I had written a whole book. A short book, sure, but it was a book. I should have gone to bed happy and satisfied, but I didn’t. For months, something was bothering me. I couldn’t put my finger on it. Something about the book was wrong, but I didn’t know what. Something in it? Something about it?
Read moreOctober of 2008 probably seems pretty specific, but thankfully, other people are keeping track of this stuff for me. It was October of 2008 when I heard about National Novel Writing Month for the first time (otherwise known as NANOWRIMO). It’s grown quite a bit since then, but the idea was pretty simple: you sit down during the month of
Read moreI’d just finished writing for the day (probably) when Derek got home. Within minutes of walking through the front door, he asked me to sit down and write the story of the book. The story of how it was written, I mean. Did I mention that it’s our anniversary? I think it’s our ninth. Or twenty-ninth. It’s hard to say.
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