Writing
2.25.19 The joys of taking books on vacation
One of the great joys of vacation, for me, is a chance to arrive at my location and dive into a book. It sounds counter-intuitive — to travel hours in order to disappear into yet another world — but I just adore traveling through a city or the countryside, finding a perfect location, and getting…
Read More1.08.19 Arisia 2019 Schedule
Come find me at Arisia in Boston from Jan. 18-21! I’ll be paneling, partying, reading and selling. Here’s my schedule: Saturday, Jan. 19, 8:30pm – 9:45am (St. James)It Was Nineteen-Eighty-Something The twenty-year nostalgia cycle took longer this time, but the Reagan era is back. 2018’s Ready Player One hid its plot in a fire hose…
Read More1.04.19 11 Thoughts, Questions and Concerns I Had While Binging Netflix’s ‘You’
You and I have a few things to talk about. Yes, there will be spoilers. 1) The angsty villain protagonist stalker creepo is named Joe Goldberg (and played by Penn Badgley, who apparently had something to do with Gossip Girl). Anyway, I’m concerned about him being a Goldberg. I’m all for diversity but this is…
Read More12.07.18 Glenn Close on being a selfish artist, ‘hideous’ paintings and still missing ‘Damages’ Patty Hewes
There was never any way I could get all of the greatness of chatting with Glenn Close into a single 800-word article for the LA Times Envelope, though I did my best. For those who liked that chat and were left wanting more, here’s most of the rest of the transcript of our conversation. We…
Read More12.4.18 50 Things I Can’t Stop Thinking of Since I Sent the New Novel to My Beta Reader
I forgot to do this one thing in Chapter 20. The ending could be done in a completely different way. It’s too goofy. It’s not funny. It’s not funny enough. The serious parts are seriously inane. My main character doesn’t have an arc. My beta reader hates it. My beta reader is trying to find…
Read More10.30.18 This is what the alternate timeline looks like
For centuries, genre writers have tickled their historical funny bones by speculating on what one would do if one could go back in time. There’s a lot of discussion about how you’d neutralize a burgeoning menace. You’d go back, figure out a way and change history for the better. Or, as “Doctor Who’ did recently,…
Read More9.06.18 Guest Blog: J.L. Gribble on Steel Time, Siamese cats, and telling us all she knows
Happy book birthday to J.L. Gribble! This week, the fourth book in her Steel Empires fantasy/alternate history series, Steel Time, is being published by Dog Star Books, the science-fiction/adventure imprint of Raw Dog Screaming Press, and I’ve happily asked her to answer a few questions about herself, and the book, here on my blog. As she…
Read More8.28.2018 How ‘Sharp Objects’ ultimately lost its teeth and cheated viewers in the process
Warning: Spoilers. Oh, so many spoilers about the full season of Sharp Objects below. Sharp Objects, the adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s (Gone Girl) first novel just wrapped up its one and only season on Sunday. Having missed most of its original run, I blazed through it in just a couple of days, and let’s just…
Read More5.22.18 How To Review Your Friend’s Book in 5 Easy Steps, and Why Authors Keep Asking You To
A friend writes: “Someone close to me has self-published her book and asked me to write a review. I helped her with edits years ago, but haven’t read it since she published. It wasn’t really my style, but I was happy to help. I have no idea what to write for a review. We’re trying…
Read More5.17.18 9 Ways I Know ‘Book Club’ Will Stink, Based on the Poster
Last night, Dear Husband and I were talking about what we might do this weekend. (We still haven’t seen Black Panther, which is a stain on our character, and that is probably what will happen.) But then he brought up Book Club. I’m not sure if my eyes dropped out right then or a few…
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