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
Tag: writing
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 Harry Potter and… Continue reading A Beginner’s Guide to Worldbuilding
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
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
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
How to Write a Book in 3 Months
Yes, it's possible. The first draft, anyway. If National Novel Writing Month didn't work out for you or was too rushed, try an easier goal of churning out a rough draft in 3 months. The idea is the same—you try to write a certain number of words per day—but the time frame is stretched out… Continue reading How to Write a Book in 3 Months
50 Writing Blog Post Ideas
Maintaining a consistent writing blog can be tricky, especially when you've had one for a while and have to keep coming up with ideas for posts. Here are 50 blog post subjects for writing blogs, both collected from around the internet and thought of by yours truly when I should be paying attention in class.… Continue reading 50 Writing Blog Post Ideas
The Lowdown on Middle Grade vs. Young Adult Fiction
At my most recent writer's conference, I signed up to pitch and have a critique with agents and editors specializing in young adult fantasy, only to have them tell me I was actually writing middle grade. I've been working on this manuscript on and off for a couple years, so I thought I had pretty… Continue reading The Lowdown on Middle Grade vs. Young Adult Fiction
