Category: On Writing
Finding the Courage to Write About My Abusive Marriages
When people think of courage, mountain peaks and raging rivers usually come to mind. But memoir writing can be one of the most courageous acts anyone ever does. I began to write my memoir after years of keeping silent about the abuse in my two marriages – except for writing in my journals. Compulsive journal […]
Using A Real Life Legal Case As Inspiration For A Novel
As an attorney, I encountered many real life events that were both dramatic and suspenseful. Writing legal thrillers was a good fit for me because of those experiences, but let’s face it, most days practicing law is pretty dull. Contracts, client meetings, and talking on the phone is not something that readers want to find […]
The Chameleon: How Writing Changed Me
I was forty-three years old when I wrote my first novel. It was a game-changer, no question. Not for monetary reasons. Not for “fame.” But for allowing me an outlet where I could finally be me. I’ve led a chameleon’s life, an expert at blending in as circumstances dictate. I graduated from the United States […]
Shakespeare’s Sisters—The Bard’s most accomplished female literary contemporaries
April 23, 2016 marks the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death with worldwide celebrations to mark his legacy. But what about the women? In her iconic essay A Room of One’s Own, Virginia Woolf imagines the life of Shakespeare’s brilliant sister Judith, barred from the grammar school because of her sex and forced to hide her […]
Writing It Forward
I remember standing on the corner of a dirt road as a child of eight or nine. I was shielding my eyes from the blistering sun of a South Carolina summer and bouncing on my toes as I strained to hear the engine of the approaching book mobile. Likely I would have been clutching a […]
How I Came To Write The Bones Of You
During the summer of 2013, as far as writing was concerned, I reached a crossroads. I’d written and submitted to agents three commercial women’s fiction titles, the last of which was Wildflowers. I’d had enough positive feedback from some of the agents to keep me writing and Wildflowers had caught the attention of six, all […]
How Outside Influences Affect My Writing
Okay, this post is gonna make some people feel queasy. It’s gonna make you angry. It’s gonna make you doubt my sanity. Writers and would-be writers, for instance – the write-what-you-know, follow-your-passion, what-does-your-gut-tell-you people out there, especially the unpublished ones, I’m going to make you absolutely nuts right now, and I apologize. Readers? Publishing pros? […]
From Screenwriter to Novelist
I first wanted to become a novelist because I wanted to find out how it was done. I remember as a teenager being gobsmacked when I read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s last novel, Tender Is The Night, in an edition that explained how two different versions had been published, the second re-arranging the chronology of the […]
Writing The Book That Accompanies a Television Show, or What It’s Like to Be the Toy in the Happy Meal
There are two questions I can count on being asked after someone sees my writing resume: “Did you get to interview Matt Damon?” and “What’s it like to write a book that’s tied to a television show?” The answer to the first question is simple–no. (Though if you catch me on a good day, I […]
Confessions of a Book Buzz Builder
When I first signed with my agent to represent my memoir, she reviewed my book proposal. I’d included this tidbit: “as a former book publicist of ten years at several major publishing houses, including Random House, Simon & Schuster and Doubleday, I have the skills to promote my book extensively.” She scribbled in the margin, […]
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