N.W. Harris, author of Joshua’s Tree (which currently tops the Goodreads 2013 Summer Reading list), interviewed me this week for his blog. Some things we chatted about include writing fiction versus nonfiction, my path to publication and editorial career, and three things I think new writers must do to compete in the current, highly competitive […]

New York Times & Publishers Weekly best-selling YA author Cynthia Leitich Smith hosts an outstanding blog called Cynsations. The blog is an ever-engaging mix of author/agent/editor/librarian interviews, book celebrations, expert guest posts, and all kinds of resources about the craft and industry of children’s books, with new posts daily. I’m honored that Cynthia contributed the […]

When you work for yourself, from home no less, you tend to be a little stingy with the vacation time. I’ve got deadlines to meet for editing jobs as well as for my next book. The flip-side is that I can be very flexible with my “office.” Check out my office today! Happy 4th of […]

I’m happy to announce my new book Writing the New Adult Novel: How to Write and Sell ‘New Adult’ Fiction, to be published by Writer’s Digest Books 2014. It’ll be a hands-on guide featuring essential information, steps, and techniques to guide writers in creating engaging stories featuring eighteen- to twenty-six-year-old protagonists against the backdrop of […]

I sure get to hang with the most interesting folks. Today, comic book and graphic novel expert Danny Fingeroth visited DearEditor.com as my Guest Editor. Danny was a longtime writer and editor for Marvel Comics, best known for his work on Spider-Man. His books include Superman on the Couch, Disguised as Clark Kent,  The Rough […]

Sit on an exercise ball as you type in order to work your core muscles? Surely they’re not serious. If they are, safety gear is a must. Trust me.

Four writer friends and I gathered today at yummy (and healthy!) Seasons 52 in La Jolla, but our attention wasn’t on the awesome blackened mahi tacos the waiter set in front of us—it was on the gaggle of books these writers have just launched into the world. Amazing nonfiction writer Kathleen Krull has two new […]

I LOVE Revision Week. Today Edgar-nominated author Bruce Hale talks about the trickiness of knowing when you’re done revising: “When I can’t find anything else to tinker with, and I have that general feeling that if I mess with it much more, the entire souffle will collapse in a soggy heap — that’s when I […]

I’m fascinated by how the creative process plays out, with a person following an idea through to final product—whether that product be a book or a sculpture or a piece of technology or whatever. It seems like magic to take a grain of an idea and render into some cohesive, tangible form . . . […]

I’m getting excited! It’s almost time for DearEditor.com’s second annual Revision Week. March 24-30 I’ll be hosting six authors—who have published a combined 275 best-selling and award-winning books—for a week of revision tips, insights, and stories from the trenches at DearEditor.com. Who’s stopping by? Bestselling and award-winning authors Laura Griffin (romance novels), Matthew J. Kirby (YA […]