Writing a book is an emotional experience, at least it has been for me. Of course, I’m writing a memoir, so maybe my experience is different than other writers writing different things. I’m pretty sure we all share one thing in common, though, and that is the lonely road. The road we walk as we…
News & Updates
Progress
How to Avoid Your Book (or…how to deal with paralyzing fear and get your writing done anyways) All right, so I’ve felt a little stalled this week. The book is coming along, but the writing is slow. I’ve done everything else instead: I’ve talked about my book shared part of it with two friends researched…
Breadcrumbs
I’m always super-curious about how other writers actually write, and how their brains work. While I was struggling to get started with my book, it’s how I distracted myself – looking up writers’ habits and tips. Unlike my many other forms of random time-wasting, seeking out this information actually inspired me. It helped me get…
In the Margins
I dream and fantasize about long chunks of time in which to write. In my minds’ eye, I have a writing cabin in the mountains, surrounded by trees and wildlife and solitude. There’s a river nearby, full of fish. I like it there, that fantasy place. I think it might be in Alaska. The reality…
Be Quick, but Don’t Hurry
I am an unpublished writer, writing my first book. I just hit 80k words on a solid second draft. I’m almost done, and then on to the editing/rewriting. I think it’s one of the toughest things, being in this limbo state. I don’t know what the future holds for this book, but I am excited…
The Ugly First Draft
Oh my gosh, the first draft of my book was ugly. It was an awful mess, with me just blathering on incoherently. They say that the first draft of your book is you telling yourself the story, which is true for me, for sure. Since I’m writing a memoir, I had to unscrew the timeline…
Blog Confessions
When Blogging first became a “thing” 10+ years ago, I decided I was going to blog with abandon and people would discover my writing and I’d gain a massive following and make a lot of money, somehow. Books were dead, all the experts said. Blogging was the future. Except, I didn’t know what to blog…
Asking for Help
I was on my own a lot as a child, and I had to learn to figure things out because there wasn’t anyone around to ask for help if I needed it. I didn’t mind, though. I’ve always been a tinkerer and a fiddler. As a teen, I rewired my old Walkman to my car…
Radical Empathy, Defined
The term “Radical Empathy” occurred to me way back in 2010, when I was supervising a large department of the Library. We were in the middle of a major remodel, and I’d just had a baby. We were also in the middle of the recession, dealing with staff layoffs, and our patrons were faring even…
The Dream
I have been writing a book for three years now, and it may take a few more to get it finished and published. It’s a memoir, and I think it’s a good story. At first, I thought I was just writing a fun and breezy rock-n-roll adventure, but then it turned into something much more…