I’ve always known I was shy. As a child and well into my thirties, I always felt “less than,” uncomfortable in my own skin, so hyper aware of my own flaws that it was hard to make friends and almost impossible to feel at ease in social situations. That’s a hard way to live, and I’m happy to say I’ve gotten better over the years. But I’m still somewhat shy and it still affects my life. I was reminded of that recently when I attended a breakfast at my son’s school. I already knew many of the parents, but still...
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I would argue that every protagonist in fiction needs a major character flaw. Part of the satisfaction of reading comes from finding out how a character changes for the better. Of course some character flaws are greater than others, and when you make your protagonist seriously flawed (as I like to do), the question becomes: How do I keep the reader invested in the story? How do I keep the reader from wanting to throw the book across the room? The answer is: I don’t. In my first novel, A WORK OF ART, my main character, Tera, refuses to believe...
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I’m a member of SCBWI, which stands for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. This international organization holds regional conferences throughout the year where writers and illustrators of children’s books (and here “children” includes young adult) gather to learn from and schmooze with more famous writers, illustrators, agents, and editors. Florida has two conferences a year, plus “boot camp” workshops throughout the state. I’ve been attending SCBWI conferences since 2013, and I can’t say enough about how much I’ve learned from attending all the workshops and hearing all the inspirational speeches. The conferences have also helped me gain...
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I want to write about something that’s uncomfortable—something that’s been a source of shame for most of my life, something I’ve kept secret. When I was a child, I was sexually assaulted—not raped, but I was repeatedly fondled and kissed by an adult male who was supposed to be someone I trust. That does something to a person. Why, you might wonder, is there shame attached to being sexually assaulted? I honestly can’t answer that, but until the “Me Too” movement I felt like, if people knew what had happened to me, they would think I was weak or pathetic...
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As a novelist for young adults, I spend a lot of time trying to recapture the emotions I had in high school. For me, there wasn’t much joy in being a teen. I wrote poetry back then, and a lot of what I wrote captures my self-loathing and fear and confusion. I sometimes wrote about wanting to get life over with. But I also wrote about hope. I hoped things would get better. I only half-believed they would. So if I could go back in time and talk to my teenage self, this is what I’d say: All those feelings...
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Sometimes it feels like my creativity is drying up—or that I never had much creativity to begin with. Where do story ideas come from? Why aren’t I brimming with new ideas? These are the questions I’ve recently been asking myself, and I’ve been trying to find ways to feed my creativity. A few years ago, a writer friend of mine who I admire and respect recommended a certain “spiritual path to higher creativity” called the Artist’s Way that basically involves journaling three pages every morning and taking yourself on an “artist’s date” once a week. There was an Artist’s Way...
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I recently finished a complete draft of my latest novel, which, for me, is a big deal, especially because I’ve spent the last four years tangled up in plot revisions, character revisions, setting revisions—you name it. So needless to say, it felt really good to type the words “The End,” even though I planned on editing it a bit before sending it to my agent. It didn’t hurt that I got to type “The End” on the same day that I finished radiation treatments for my recent run-in with breast cancer. (The cancer was caught early, and six months later...
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I write for teens, so it’s important that I stay in touch with my teenage self. Now that my son is a teenager, I catch myself observing him sometimes as though I’m a behavioral scientist. But I also rely on memories of what it was like for me back in the day. I say “back in the day” as though I have fond memories of high school—when actually my teenage years were a series of embarrassing events punctuated by flashes of terror. All those insecurities and fears, all that pressure to fit in and be liked. So why do I...
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My muse likes to hide from me. Sometimes she jumps out and surprises me, but most of the time she makes me chase her. It’s hard to pin down what inspires me to write—what makes my muse grace me with her presence—but in thinking about it for this blog, I remembered a chance encounter I had when I was eight years old. I was sitting in a laundromat while my mom and I waited for our clothes to wash. I’d brought along my spiral notebook and I was furiously writing the next chapter in my Adventures of Stacy book. There...
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Every protagonist in fiction needs a major character flaw. Part of the satisfaction of reading comes from finding out how a character changes for the better. Of course some character flaws are greater than others, and when you make your protagonist seriously flawed (as I like to do), the question becomes: How do I keep the reader invested in the story? How do I keep the reader from wanting to throw the book across the room? In my first novel, A WORK OF ART, my main character, Tera, refuses to believe that her father is guilty of a crime. Her naivety...
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