THEY COULD HAVE NAMED HER ANYTHING

Why I’m Choosing to Celebrate They Could Have Named Her Anything

Thursday, August 15, 2019
0 comment

Publishing They Could Have Named Her Anything has already been more satisfying than I could have ever expected. I worked with a phenomenal illustrator to design the cover, deepened my work and artistic vision with my fantastic editor at Little A, got invited to panels with my literary heroes, and have read GoodReads reviews of my book that are lovelier than I could have ever imagined. And this month, I’ve already…

Read More >>

Today, finally, my book has been published.

Thursday, August 1, 2019
0 comment

Today my book They Could Have Named Her Anything is finally out! When I first started writing this novel, I couldn’t really imagine anyone else reading it. I certainly didn’t think of myself as an “author” yet. I’m proud of how far my mindset has changed–I’m no longer afraid to put my ideas into the world. I’m especially proud of not giving up on sending out my book to agents…

Read More >>

Here’s what working in publicity taught me about successful self-promotion

Thursday, January 31, 2019
0 comment

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…

Read More >>

How to Find Inspiration Anywhere (& a new short story!)

Thursday, December 13, 2018
1 comment

This week, Barrelhouse featured my short story “Urban Legend” in their seasonal issue. I’ve pasted the first paragraph below: It was the week of her performance review, and Adrienne was ready for a promotion. That Monday morning, at the 12th Street Gym, all the lockers in use were fastened with locks. When she joined months ago, they told her she could buy one at any hardware store, but Adrienne had…

Read More >>

Thinking of writing a book? Here’s what you need

Before I decided to write my first novel, I never thought average people from average places doing average things could write a WHOLE BOOK. I thought that was reserved for–oh, I don’t know–people who were smarter, more interesting, older, wealthier, less female, more educated, whiter… the list goes on. So despite always writing, I spent a lot of time not sharing my work, even in my college years, because I…

Thursday, November 29, 2018
1 comment
Read More >>

Are you distracted or just busy?

Thursday, November 8, 2018
1 comment

This is going to be a fairly short post because today I’m a little distracted. There are a million things that I need to get done, but I put together a quick 5 minute list on how to stay focused on writing when you’re feeling as distracted as I am: Turn off your WiFi while you write. You can do all your “research” later. Or, even better, print out the…

Read More >>

On Día De Los Muertos, thousands of people commit to writing a novel

Thursday, November 1, 2018
0 comment

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…

Read More >>

Do your edits like a grown-up would

Thursday, October 25, 2018
0 comment

This week, we’re supposed to be writing about how to survive an edit letter — which refers to the list of revisions that your editor wants you to make after acquiring your book. I guess it’s hard to make big changes to your manuscript after you’ve sold it, but you should never really be that attached to your story anyway. You should always be open to making it better. I’ve…

Read More >>

On the Poetry of Isaac Brock

Thursday, October 18, 2018
0 comment

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…

Read More >>

On Drafting

Thursday, October 11, 2018
1 comment

I get easily excited about ideas. If you sit me in front of a computer long enough, I will inevitably start writing. Drafting is the fun part. Drafting should be the stream of consciousness part, the unfiltered part, the part that is done out of joy. In drafting, there is no judgment, only indulgence. One is able to describe a house or a room or even a bowl of soup…

Read More >>