Looking to write a book? Here are some places I recommend you check out. While the offices for the following schools are based in New York City, I think they all offer online courses, so you can be based anywhere and still get a great writerly education! Sackett Street Writers Workshop – I took a novel generating course here and I am so glad I did! The course I took…
Aloha: It’s tax season and this is a perfect time to remember that unless your last name is GRISHAM or KING, it is difficult to make a living writing books. Don’t let it deter you: creating a writing life is a noble calling, it just doesn’t pay well for the aspiring or newbie writers. It doesn’t pay well for poets. You should know that it’s madness in a way, to…
In my career, I’ve worked as a publicist, which means I’m accustomed to reaching out to people with cold pitches, telling them that I have something I think they’d find interesting. Sometimes, they do find whatever I’m pitching interesting and feature it on their website or talk show. Other times, I’m not so lucky. But when I put on my author hat, it suddenly feels weird to be reaching out…
Today is November 1st, which makes it a special day for several reasons. When I was in college in California, today was the day that the Chicano Latino Student Union dressed the courtyard outside the dining hall in paper marigolds and burning candles, sugar skulls and sugary bread for Día de los Muertos. On a plastic table draped in dark tablecloth are framed photographs of people I don’t know. On…
For this week’s post on literary influences, I’m republishing an essay I wrote about the intersection between song lyrics and poetry and how an unlikely rock band influenced a younger version of myself to think and read differently. The essay, On the Poetry of Isaac Brock, originally ran on Vol. 1 Brooklyn. When I was a freshman in high school, I had one of those rare things that stay with…
This week for The Debutante Ball, we’re sharing our journey to getting a literary agent, so I dug through the archives of my email outbox so you can experience truly and authentically the real realness of my querying process, before I landed the book deal for THEY COULD HAVE NAMED HER ANYTHING. WARNING: THERE ARE TWO PARTS OF THIS BLOG POST. THIS IS STORY #1. Read this story to be…
I “met” Clarissa through an online group of debut authors, and have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her over the course of the last year. Her novel, Rainbirds, is, quite simply, stunning. Kate Hamer, internationally bestselling author of The Girl in the Red Coat and The Doll Funeral, describes it as “luminous, sinister, and page-turning all at once” and I wholeheartedly agree. About the novel: Intertwining elements of suspense and magical realism, award-winning literary debut RAINBIRDS opens…
I am what they call a Method Author (or did I just make that term up? If so, I am a genius!) It’s similar to that of a method actor, when they immerse themselves in extreme surroundings or situations in order to prepare for a role. I love learning what actors go through to make characters more believable. One of the most famous examples, for “The Last of the Mohicans” Daniel…
As a writer with A.D.D, I know ALL about writing through distractions and attempting to keep focus. This past week has been particularly tough due to these amazing Cape Town views. Like, how does anyone expect me to write when the weather is gorgeous and there’s not a cloud in the sky? Same thing happens during the summer in New York. All I want to do is be outside in…
Look who we got in the guest chair today! None other than authoress Mindy McGinnis. As her bio state: “McGinnis delivers a dark and riveting contemporary YA novel that blends the unflinching honesty of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak with the relentless pacing and alternating perspectives of Gone Girl.” Whew! Impressive! If you haven’t already, pick up a copy of the stunning, unforgettable page-turner THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES!! Or retweet on Twitter,…
