I played with the first line, “Everyone hates a fat woman,” for a decade (and published four other novels) before writing Waisted. The scale-obsessed women screamed in my head, but I kept
Unless it’s in service to a story, I avoid deep thought. But avoidance only stretches so far; when it became time to write a think piece on why I wrote that particular
For ten years, I co-led groups for violent men.* I sat in a circle with a (usually) male co-leader and anywhere from 8 to 18 men who’d been violent with
Woman (me, for instance) weeks (months?) getting ready for a book launch (or any event): Buy a new dress.Return dress.Decide to wear an edgy jagged-hem blouse.Realize anyone using the
That perfect first line. How we chase it, scrambling phrases and our brains, seeking magic words to pop open our stories like magic keys. ( Sometimes, I want to create
My childhood clothes resembled the old Catskills joke about food: The food is terrible at this hotel—and the portions are way too small! My mother brought my sister and me to John’s
At first, writing seems the perfect job for a control freak. * You are alone! At your desk. Making your very own world. * These characters you’ve dreamed up jump when you
Perhaps the lure of the bad boy is similar to the temptation of climbing Mt. Everest. It feels so good to conquer it and reach the top—despite all the pain
The writer’s code (written into our secret writer club rules) reminds us that day jobs (and only day jobs) stand between us and a published novel. I believed. Thanks for
If you love every picture of yourself, or you’re one of those naturally photogenic people, you won’t need this post. And I don’t want to stand next to you in
“Books are a uniquely portable magic.”—Stephen King I’ve been on a tear, having just read three (entirely different) books so good that now I’m in book depression, waiting to find
Just How Useful is ChatGPT for Writing Fiction? Screaming headlines about using AI for writing (horror! useful? takeover???) appear in the newspapers,
Time is writing’s best friend Time to writeTime to let it mellowTime to readTime to rewrite Time to wait long enough to get your eyes Randy Susan Meyers
No family is without fault; few parents can be labeled good or bad. Both Priscilla Gilman and E. Dolores Johnson demonstrated that truth with extraordinary openness in their memoirs—for which
Hoarding, hiding, and divorcing socks: such are my dryer’s hobbies. (He likely hustles clients for a textile-marriage counselor—or is, perhaps, an instrument of the devil.) The other possibility, though sad,
“The library was a little old shabby place. Francie thought it was beautiful. The feeling she had about it was as good as the feeling she had about church.”
Why ‘memorable & relished’ rather than ‘best’? Because best is such an individual decision: best-written? best-received? best-advertised? As I went through my list of read and listened-to books this year,
Stories abound of Jewish people who grow up warm and secure in their faith. Those for whom the eight days of Hanukah didn’t compete with Christmas: Jewish nurses, firefighters, and
Presents!! In opposition to the Scrooges of the world, I love giving presents, finding presents, and getting presents! (Though I do have to lock down my desire to do one
“I’m looking for possible blurbs to be published on the back or inside cover of my 90-year-old mother’s novel,” Michelle Hoover wrote on Facebook. “Her health is precarious, she’s isolated
My sister and I didn’t grow up rife with traditions. On Halloween we wore old shirts to represent that we were hobos or beatniks, depending on our mood. When we
Answering questions off the cuff is my favorite way of presenting—surprising (embarrassing?) myself with on-my-feet answers as I stumble into learning things I didn’t know about myself. Thus, when author
(first published in 2011) Originally, I tried to resist writing this 9especially after my plea against categorizing authors.) Plus, so many of us hide our age in this world of never-get-old,
“The library was a little old shabby place. Francie thought it was beautiful. The feeling she had about it was as good as the feeling she had about church.” A