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            When I first began to work on IF I BRING YOU ROSES, I was overwhelmed by the enormity of my ambition.  I recall how I stood in the middle of my office surrounded by all the books that I loved. How could I ever hope to achieve what Anton Chekhov, Jane Austen, F. Scott Fitzgerald had? I was a mere mortal.  I couldn’t think of how to start so I prayed—for guidance to research and learn all that I needed to know to tell my story and—for the talent to…

Countdown to Publication—Week Two

             Eighteen years ago, six weeks after giving birth to my son, a friend and I took the train to downtown Chicago to meet Oscar Hijuelos on his book tour for THE MAMBO KINGS PLAY SONGS OF LOVE.   I was so excited…

Countdown to Publication: Week Three

            We took my mother to visit her sister in Bangor, Michigan this past weekend and we were talking about the old days at the kitchen table when my mother mentioned how years ago when she visited Spain, she had…

Countdown to Publication: Week Four

I feel like the poster child of learning to write on-the-job—and I like it.  One of the most gratifying aspects of writing the Countdown to Publication blog has been the support of my sister (and brother) writers on She Writes. My journey to…

Countdown to Publication—Week Five

“Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not the sitter.”   Oscar Wilde

          I am five weeks away from the publication of my debut novel IF I BRING YOU ROSES and I am…

Countdown to Publication--Week Six

Father’s Day got me thinking about what my father taught me about writing, a lesson that I still value even though he passed away twenty-five years ago at age 54.

             He was fastidious about…

Countdown to Publication Blog -- Week 7.

 She Writes amigas, I have a confession to make: I had a crisis of faith. It began with a question, sneaking up on me while I was doing something as ordinary…

         One of my dreams came true just a few days ago—I talked about my debut novel IF I BRING YOU ROSES at Chicago’s Printers Row Lit Fest.  My friend, the fabulous Tayari Jones, was on the same panel for her new novel…