Before I first signed up for National Novel Writing Month in 2007, I had never heard of the terms "planner" and "pantser." I had been writing stories since I was 8 and somehow went from vague ideas stored in my head to writing out a few paragraphs as a vague outline for an entire novel … Continue reading Writing Files: From Planner to Pantser
The Update I'm so excited! I've finally finished the first draft of Queen of the Garden of Girls! It feels a little funny to be celebrating it like this, but I've been working on this first draft for well over a year and have been posting it here for about as long. Last year was … Continue reading Queen of the Garden of Girls Update and What’s Next
Note: Since I've been posting this for over a year now, and since I have quite a bit written, these posts will get a little longer for the time being. At least until my creative well dries up and I have a hard time working on it again. Chapter Fourteen, continued They painted in silence … Continue reading Queen of the Garden of Girls, Part 43
There was a time, back in my early twenties, when I thought my first drafts were pretty darn good. I thought a bit of proofreading and some light editing was good enough. I did not see them as first drafts, which meant I didn't see them for the horrendous train wrecks they actually were. As … Continue reading On Writing First Drafts: What Queen of the Garden of Girls Has Taught Me
Chapter Twelve continued Elaina's hands automatically flew to her hair, which hung down around her shoulders in soft tangles, clearly not recently brushed. Her stomach turned over, the nibble of the cookie suddenly not sitting well. She really should have paid closer attention to the time. She couldn't bring herself to look directly at Rose's … Continue reading Queen of the Garden of Girls, Part 37
Chapter Eleven continued Elaina took a hasty sip of her ice cold water. Then her eyes wandered back to where Robert was still poking at his food. "It's not poisoned, you know," she said, perhaps a little too rudely. He started slightly before looking up with a sheepish look. "Sorry, Elaina. I'm just lost in … Continue reading Queen of the Garden of Girls, Part 33
I'm a reader and a writer. Or should that be a writer and a reader? My mom tells me I fell in love with books before I could read and that I used to sit outside and tell myself stories when I was 2, so it's hard to know which one came first. But reading … Continue reading NaNo My Way
This isn't a mom blog. But it is. Yet it isn't. Believe it or not, I really am this indecisive! But let me start by talking about boxes. Not physical boxes. The figurative boxes we put people into. This is really just a mental shortcut, an easy and effortless way to organize the world around … Continue reading Not a Mom Blog
In honor of February and Valentine's Day, I'll be posting a long love story poem I wrote about a decade ago, divided into 4 parts. From dawn to dusk From sun to moon From life to death I will always love you. You live next door In the peach colored house Your room was across … Continue reading My love, part 1
The Lily Cafe 