Archive | December, 2017

Prepare for a Writer’s New Year


The New Year promises a fresh start, but only if we truly bring the current year to a close. If you don’t resolve the physical and emotional “incompletes” in your life, January 1 will look remarkably like December 31, with the possible minor difference of needing to clean up after the party. One of the […]

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Writers: If People Insist on Giving You Books… Get the Good Ones!


While there is a bit of debate about Albus Dumbledore’s claimed regret that “People will insist on giving me books” instead of socks, the truth is, books are not a bad gift. Especially not for writers. In fact, many of us have trained family and friends to give us books. (If you’ve trained complete strangers […]

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Kid-tested, Writer-approved, Surprising Gifts to Boost Imagination


“One can never have enough socks,” said Dumbledore. “Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn’t get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books.” – J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Of course books are outstanding gifts, but like Albus Dumbledore, I do think other gift options are underutilized. […]

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New Book Update: The Gift of Being Rejected


Thank you to the Loft Literary Center for offering and to agent Kelly Van Sant for teaching the online Query Comprehensive class where I revised (and revised again and again) my query letter. I wasn’t sure I needed a comprehensive class; after all, I knew the basics. But the timing was ideal — I had […]

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