What’s the Most Embarrassing Thing …

… you’ve ever been caught “rehearsing” for your writing? You know what I mean. Sometimes, you just have to act it out, right? Tell me I’m not the only one who practices bits of dialogue (both sides of the conversation) just to see how it’ll sound. No, seriously. Tell...

How Does a Shiny New Idea Lose its Luster?

Oh, those glittery SNI’s! We’ve all been attracted by them at one point. Sometimes they try to tempt us away from a WIP just as the work is getting tough. Sometimes they pose as the next big project, until we realize they have no substance to them. When do you realize...

Who’s YOUR Doctor?

Among my accomplishments this summer, I count the conversion of both daughters into Doctor Who fans. This was a big deal to me, because I spent a great deal of my youth watching this man:That’s the Doctor, played by Tom Baker from 1974 to 1981. I did watch the show...

Outlining vs. Pantstering

Are you an outliner or a pantster – or do you use elements of each? Have you blogged about your process?I’ll be leading two writing workshops this November and examining how to build a plot through one method or another (or a clever combination of both). The first...

Back to the Caged Graves

Last week, I signed the contract to publish The Caged Graves with Clarion. With the book on its way to publication, it seemed an appropriate time for a pilgrimage back to the place that inspired the story – Hooded Grave Cemetery in Catawissa, PA.I knew, going back,...