I am sitting here unable to work because I'm too excited. My novel Pictures of You was just chosen for the Kirkus Best Books of 2011 List! What is so astonishing to me is that from the moment I went with Algonquin, my whole life changed. I went from someone with meager sales to being a NYT bestseller, a Costco Pennie's Pick, a San Francisco Lit Pick, a Best Book of the year from Bookmarks Magazine, Bookpage AND Kirkus--and I think it really goes to show that you cannot give up.  You cannot…

When you're grieving, people are usually trying to feed you.  But many years ago, in an attempt to outrun my terrifying grief, I got involved with a man who wouldn't let me eat. To leave him meant I'd have to grieve again--so I wrote about it for The London Telegraph --and many thanks to my stupendous UK publisher, Allen and Unwin, for making this happen!  Here is the link:…

Not sure if you want to get your MFA? Too expensive? Too time consuming or not sure it's worth it,  but you still want writing help and mentorship? The sublime Julianna Baggott has a fantastic post about how to build your own MFA program working one on one with established writers--including me. This kind of…

I'm totally surprised, but I seem to have written a literary thriller.

http://www.themillions.com/2011/09/why-are-so-many-literary-writers-shifting-into-genre.html