I grew up believing if I wasn’t outstanding I didn’t deserve to exist. I don’t know where this thought came from. I’m sure it must have protected or served me at one time. But eventually it made me feel like a performing...

This past Sunday’s New York Times opinion page ran another one of those sky-is-falling publishing op-eds that always raise my hackles. Writers eat this stuff up; it seems to serve as some sort of validation for why it’s so fricking...

My better half is a builder, and he is not a whap it, tap it, slap it kind of worker. He is a craftsman, who built our home with reclaimed oak floors, spacious windows to let in the light, and an eye for detail. He could see our house before it...

I am more than a writer (you probably are too). I'm also a partner, a dog mom, a friend and writing coach. I mountain bike, rock climb, camp, hike and spend time with the people I love. I like a clean house too (though my standards pale compared...

When it comes to the discipline of writing, there’s a lot of talk about showing up. Butt in chair. Schedule the time. Keep your dates with yourself. All of this is good advice, and the most successful and prolific authors have the disposition...

  “Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” Winston Churchill It was just an off day. You know the kind, where everything is a little bit off center. Tired from a weekend of yard work and...

Lovingkindness. Compassion. Equanimity. Empathetic joy. These are the four virtues I learned about in a single lesson from a Buddhist teacher. It was so many years ago, I can no longer remember the teacher’s name, but his lesson has stayed...

Writers must write every day. That’s the mantra. Authors ranging from Ray Bradbury to Ernest Hemingway to Doris Lessing all propound the necessity of writing daily. But the thing is, writers are also humans, and many humans have an irksome...

  It takes courage to share your writing with the world because everyone has something to say, sometimes in ways that nurture, sometimes in ways that scorch. Early in my writing days, I received some unexpected praise from a...

  Huge numbers of people show at jobs every day that they’re less than thrilled to be working. Some of us may be in that camp. Some not. But most creative writers, regardless of other jobs they have or work they do, are lucky to...

“When did you write your first story?” It’s a standard question for novelists. “As soon as I could hold a pencil” is the right answer. Not me though. I didn’t even think about writing a novel until I was in my...

I’m more than two-thirds through an edit that I hope will make my young adult novel ready for the final round of submissions to agents and publishers. It’s been a hard, slow slog, but I like the changes I’ve made. The world...

Creative writing requires recommitment from time to time. Not writing is much easier than writing. Curiously, what many of us find is that although we want to write in theory, we keep letting other things get in the way. If those things...

When I was a teenager in Sweden, I read a book by a Swedish Creative Writing guru. His tone was factual and dominant, he knew his business and he made sure we knew he knew. One of his memorable pronouncements went something like...

It's resolution time, and whether you commit to annual resolutions religiously, or you believe they don't merit a special time of year, the year's end provides a unique opportunity to consider where you've been and where you're...