There’s a new concept emerging in the writing community that wasn’t on my radar a decade ago, and that is the notion of a sensitivity reader. Different from a beta reader–someone you find to read your work-in-progress for free, purely
Just Enough Rain
After a spring of record flooding, the summer has turned dry. Dust blows over the gravel roads to and from Girl Scout Camp. Farmers scan the sky, and my husband hauls out the hose to water the garden. We’ve left
Only Connect
There’s been a lot to celebrate in the writing life so far this November. Since I haven’t yet configured a newsletter that will charmingly organize all the things, I will merely list them. THE NECESSARIES is out in print on
Writing Over vs. Overwrought
I recently had accepted for publication a story I’ve been sending out for 4 years and have been working on for far longer. So first and foremost, hooray for that. I won’t say where until the publisher confirms that they
Advance copies of THE NECESSARIES
So I just got a box of Advance Reader Copies for my new collection The Necessaries, and I’m noticing how the delirious joy of having a copy of one’s book to hold in one’s hands gets overwhelmed fairly quickly by
When It Works
We all know what the ideal route to publication looks like. It’s a walk through the park with a few major landmarks: Draft, stew a bit, finish draft, let it rest. Get reader feedback. Revise. Rest again. Revise some more,