My stats. TLDR: I couldn't have pulled it off alone. If you had taken my preteen self aside, and looked her full in her zit-dotted face and said, "Are you sure about this writing thing?", she would've answered, "Duh, why not?" And then you might've said, "Because you're gonna be querying agents." And, with the… Continue reading How I Got My Literary Agent
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Mrs. Lubonek
Nobody knew how old the Luboneks were, but they’d lived at the top of Pecan Hill since before Cumberland was built, and the town grew up around them. Mr. Lubonek had a voice like gravel and always smelled of engine grease, sweat, and the gritty scent of someone whose friends were machines and whose family… Continue reading Mrs. Lubonek
Postcards from the Depths of Revision
When I was little, I turned my closet into a black hole of cardigans. I was so affronted by the precious three seconds it takes to hang sweaters on hangers that I tossed them into a pile that grew until one day I tried to pull one from the wall of knits and cotton and… Continue reading Postcards from the Depths of Revision
A Beginner’s Guide to Worldbuilding
Setting up the Setting Characters don't interact in a vacuum. The reason some people prefer fantasy and sci-fi over contemporary fiction is because they want to get lost in a different world, so creating a compelling setting intrigues readers just as much as character actions and motivations do. Half the fun of reading Six of Crows and… Continue reading A Beginner’s Guide to Worldbuilding
7 More Odd, Wonderful Reads from Around the Internet
1. The Business of Murder Flash fiction when done effectively tends to be over before the reader is ready. This thrilling, 937-word piece about a planned homicide agency that never misses an appointment will keep you thinking long after the final sentence. 2. Kevin One of Reddit's most famous comments, this tale of a fantastically… Continue reading 7 More Odd, Wonderful Reads from Around the Internet
The Deathworkers Agency
The most annoying thing about death is all the paperwork involved. Every morning, Lyle and I make the trip to the warehouse to sift through today’s files and see whose soul we get to summon and send into the light. “Harold Lassiter, aged eighty-six,” I read from the list of names. “Heart attack. Leaves behind… Continue reading The Deathworkers Agency
7 Odd, Wonderful Reads from Around the Internet
Sometimes you're just in the mood to skim something short and whacky. Here are seven of my favorite odd reads, just the tip of the iceberg on a Bookmark list spanning at least a hundred. 1. The Wikipedia list of unusual articles Wikipedia tends to be dry and objective. This is one of the funniest,… Continue reading 7 Odd, Wonderful Reads from Around the Internet
The Candy Shop
The candy shop showed up near the end of April, planting itself in the abandoned yellow building on the corner of Millard and Oak Grove. By the time May drifted to a close, the boarded-up windows had been washed and lined with pink curtains and someone had planted a garden in front that inexplicably bloomed… Continue reading The Candy Shop
Year-End Roundup: 25 Books I’ve Read This Year
College, jobs, and personal projects kept me from hitting 50 like I would have wanted, but here's my roundup of the 25 novels I read in 2017, in order from January to December: 1. The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris I saw the movie late at night alone in an empty apartment, which is… Continue reading Year-End Roundup: 25 Books I’ve Read This Year
The Claire Witch Project
There are many things you can easily explain to your parents. Accidentally blowing up your uncle is not one of them. “You are so busted, Claire,” said my sister Lindsay, eying the singed curtains and the freshly made crater in my bedroom floor. “Wait until Dad finds out you were practicing transmorph spells in your… Continue reading The Claire Witch Project
Brighton Rose 