books

Interview with Author Sarah DiGregorio (and Book Giveaway!)

As someone who dealt with many complications getting pregnant, I was excited to talk to Sarah DiGregorio, who writes about premature birth in her book  EARLY: An Intimate History of Premature Birth and What It Teaches Us About Being Human (Harper). In this reported memoir, the freelance journalist, who covers both healthcare and food for many publications (including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Slate, The Wall Street Journal, and Catapult)…

Saturday, March 21, 2020
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Casting the Architects

Wednesday, February 12, 2020
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Let’s be honest. Most of us who write novels want them to be made into films. It’s just really fun, and the option money isn’t bad, either. (Plus, we all secretly fear more people will probably experience our stuff if it shows up on Netflix someday.) I’ve worked in small-scale videomaking for over a decade — YouTube, music videos, weddings, and commercials, both shooting and editing. I’ve never worked on…

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Who Am I and What is My Brand?

God, the word “brand” seems to be the antithesis of actual writing.  But when you’re writing non-fiction that’s what publishers want to know. Not, “I have an idea for the greatest relationship advice book in the world,” but, who are YOU to write a relationship book?? See even if it’s the greatest business/relationship/pregnancy book in the world, or even a memoir on addiction/prison/infertility — it’s going to have to join dozens…

Friday, January 31, 2020
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My favorite books of 2019

Wednesday, December 25, 2019
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It’s Christmas Eve, which means I’m type type typing, attempting to finish my long list of deadlines before I put on my Santa hat and artfully arrange presents around a tree for my baby daughter who doesn’t even know who Santa is quite yet. Anyway, here’s a short list of the reads that made my 2019 delightful and fun. I firmly believe that we are absolutely, completely, one hundred percent…

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How to Deal with Distractio– Wait is that a Text?

Saturday, November 9, 2019
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Hey, let me tell you what I’m trying to do at this very moment: prep for my author marketing meeting, watch videos for learning how to write a TV treatment, upload all the business cards of people I met at a professional conference this weekend, write an article about a conference I attended two weeks ago, photoshop my author photos, upload guest author interviews and write this piece. Oh, and…

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What is Scarier than Empty Space?

Friday, November 1, 2019
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Well, I’m glad Halloween is over. Now it’s time for more prosaic fears. Myself. Yup, it’s that time of year again, when my book edits were submitted (“This is the last time you can make substantive changes,” GULP) and I am in that twiddling thumb space. I’ve been in this space before — the first time I handed in my draft in June — but after that I collapsed. I…

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Fight or flight, fear and failure

Wednesday, October 30, 2019
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Do you want to know my number one writing fear? Writing this blog entry. Ha, ha. I’m mostly kidding. I have panic disorder, so “confronting my fears” is something I do with a lot of preparation and self-care. However, I feel like I might share my number one writing fear with pretty much every debut author who ever waltzed on to the scene, so I don’t feel alone in this….

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My Desert-Island Top 5 Books (That Influenced Me)

Friday, October 18, 2019
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To paraphrase Nick Hornby, My desert-island, top-five most memorable books in chronological order: 1. Escape to Witch Mountain Tony and Tia were different. (Didn’t we all feel that way as kids?) They could both read minds and had telekenisis – they could move objects with their minds. That was a talent I tried to practice as I suffered silently at the dinner table. Instead of paying attention to what was…

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Let’s go back. All the way back.

Wednesday, October 16, 2019
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When I think of the books and authors that have influenced me, I think back. Way back. Back further than that. All the way to the beginning, really, because there’s nothing like the high you get from reading when you’re young. I think that’s one of the highs we chase as adult readers—the feeling we got way back when while staying up late, hiding under the sheets with a flashlight,…

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My Bumpy Path to Publication

Friday, September 20, 2019
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When I was pregnant and so nervous about it — I’d had previous losses — the doctor told me I wouldn’t be happy until I have the baby in my arms. And so it will be with publication. I am “pregnant” now — with a baby ready for publication, but this baby’s a book. I suspect I won’t really believe it until I am holding it (her?) in my hands….

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