They say it’s the question you’re not supposed to ask writers–Where do you get your ideas? I don’t necessarily mind the question because...

Everything I learned about characterization and introducing characters I learned from this three and a half clip, the opening of The...

When people hear I sold a novel, their first response (at least the one after, “You?!?!”) is–“How do you have the time to write?” ...

I’m officially coining a phrase here–“Weed words.” These are the words you find yourself using over and over again as you write. ...

Allegedly there are writers out there who can draft a story or novel, do a polish, then send it off to their agent who then has no...

When I decided to start writing seriously, I emailed a lot of writers asking them about their process to find out what worked and didn’t...

Recently, I had the pleasure of visiting Sourcebooks, who will be publishing THE WATER TOWER 5. I arranged the trip because, let’s face...

When I started writing, I discovered pretty quickly that I had a lot to learn. I still remember Sam W. Anderson holding up the short...

I try to read a lot of books by author’s about writing. It’s comforting in some weird way to hear a writer talk about the struggles he...

A Long Story Explaining a Basic Concept: When I started writing back in 2006, I wrote horror short stories. I suppose that was mostly...

Selling THE WATER TOWER 5 led to a weird sort of crisis of conscience for me. I was excited to get started on the next novel, ready to...

Yes, it finally happened. Yesterday I got word from Super Agent Kerry Sparks that she had finalized a deal with Sourcebooks to publish...

So, after failing to get a literary agent for my first novel, Lucky Town, today I signed with Kerry Sparks of LGR (Levine, Greenburg,...

So after all of the rejections, here’s what happened: I felt like a failure. How could I not? I spent four years on the novel, fully...

I have a lot on my mind (for once) and need vomit it all out. I’m waaaay out of sorts writing-wise for various reasons, and have decided...

Writing Update: So, about a month and a half ago I finished the sixth (and hopefully final) draft of Lucky Town, my 74K YA novel about a...

First, a quick thing about me – I wrote “Plink” two (maybe three) years ago. It’s always been my favorite of my short stories. I sent...