My plan for this post, all week, has been to list my rankings of the most memorable mothers in literature. It was easy at first. Molly Weasley, Marmee, and Matilda’s Mrs. Wormwood. It got a bit tougher as I moved to adult memoir, but of course there’s Deirdre Burroughs from Running with Scissors, Rose Mary Walls of The Glass Castle, and, on the side of good moms, Alice Trillan and…
I’m coming to the ball from both sides this week. Sure, I am a published author who can spew some learnings about being on submission. But I’m also an aspiring author, one who is prepping to submit a proposal to her agent and is thus steeling herself for the emotional roller coaster ahead. Being on submission is a bit different the second time around. The burden to prove yourself might…
I could probably write this entire post in one word. Potatoes. If the definition of comfort food is a fairly traditional treat that has sentimental or nostalgic appeal (thanks Wikipedia!) then children’s books are my literary Mr. Potato Head. The Giving Tree. A Light in the Attic. Sideways Stories from Wayside School. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. The Babysitters Club. Little Women. The Face on the Milk Carton. The…
Forget writing books. I don’t even know when to stop reading them. It’s true. I don’t quit books. Even if I can’t stand the story, the characters, the sentences, the dialogue. Doesn’t matter. I plow through. I’ve been told over and over that this is a mistake. “Life’s too short,” they say. “So many great books out there, don’t waste time on bad ones.” Yeah, yeah. I know. But I…
Of all the best advice I’ve ever received, most of it can be filed under “Duh.” If someone invites you somewhere “just to be nice”…that’s a really good reason. After years of sunburns, you are not suddenly going to tan. If he says he doesn’t like you, believe him. Curly girls cannot have bangs. When it comes to writing and publishing advice, the same holds true. The best advice I’ve…
Welcome to the world, MWF Seeking BFF! Not only are you pretty, but you’re smart and have a great personality. IOW, all the best book-ish attributes. You are going to rock bookshelves all over the world! (Er, sorry for blatantly anthropomorphizing, but books have always been my best friends, and it seemed especially appropriate in this case.) Reading MWF Seeking BFF made me wish I lived close enough to give…
Before my book launch, I’d been warned that the actual publication day might feel anti-climactic. First of all, my book was originally planned for January 2012, so when it got moved up, the press and events were still planned for a month later. And then there was the fact that MWF Seeking BFF was coming out right around the holidays, when people are out of town and distracted. And, finally,…
Since Deb Rachel’s book is all about her year of friend dates, I thought I’d share the story of MY first friend date with her! (Jealous? You will be once you read her book!) Deb Date #1: Rachel In October, Rachel emails me about getting together. We’ve been emailing ever since the announcement of the 2012 Class of Debs, but we’ve never met in person. She lives in a neighborhood…
My good friend in college and I loved Carly Simon—we STILL do—and whenever we’d hear a Carly song on the radio, any one of her many spot-on tributes to the emotional landslides that invariably befall us all, my friend and I would turn to one another and say with unabashed reverence: “Carly knows.” Well, after reading MWF SEEKING BFF, I can now say the same for Deb Rachel in the…
It’s LAUNCH WEEK for Deb Rachel’s MWF SEEKING BFF! I finished MWF SEEKING BFF the other day, but it’s still with me, the many layers of the book sticking with me long after I closed the cover and put it down with a happy sigh. I’ll get to the Q&A in a minute, but first I wanted to talk about the two really compelling reasons why I liked the book:…
