Archive for January 2022
Twenty: The Moment
Dear Zoe and Talia, It just hit me this morning (many years too late) that I probably should have been writing you separate birthday letters—you are, after all, separate people. But I decided I wasn’t going to feel guilty about that because I have so many other items already on the things-to-feel-guilty-about list. Plus, I…
Read MoreThe One about the Hospital, II
With the pandemic living situation still current, many of my days blend one into the other, only delineated by a music lesson here or an appointment there. Otherwise, I’m on a repeat cycle of writing, editing, and Zoom teaching. Breaks are no better—maybe even worse—because without the structure of teaching, I rarely remember what day…
Read MoreA Hope to Inspire Readers: An Interview with Charvet Clark
We’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but it’s hard not to with Charvet Clark’s Kiss Kiss For Real, which sports one of my favorite covers ever. Colorful and whimsical, it fits this young-adult romance to a T. The book features a “feisty good girl” and an “unattainable bad boy” and is…
Read MoreBringing a Story to Life: An Interview with Julie John
In September of last year, one of the most thrilling emails I’ve received to date arrived in my inbox. The message was from Julie John, who wrote, “Nice to meet you! I am going to narrate Rewrite the Stars for Black Rose . . .” I jumped for joy at that point, then sat down…
Read MoreBuilding Empathy and Bridges: An Interview with Suzanne Kamata
I first “met” award-winning author Suzanne Kamata years ago when I began working with Literary Mama. At the time, she intimidated me! A confident, capable, talented writer like her working with a relative newbie like myself? It was a lot to take in. And then I emailed her a publishing question and received a lovely…
Read MoreArt & Soul: An Interview with Rob Samborn
Thrillers seem to be on-trend right now—and maybe they always have been—but that puts author Rob Samborn in a good place. His debut novel, The Prisoner of Paradise, released in November, and so far, it’s garnering great reviews! Author Ruthie Marlenée wrote, “Not to be out shadowed by the historical and conspiracy thriller writing luminaries…
Read MoreEven More Words for the New Year 7
Well, friends, we’ve had another interesting year, have we not? Here we are, two years into this pandemic, a year past vaccinations began, and we’re still hearing complaints about mask usage and vaccine mandates. We’ve proven that vaccines work (if you’re vaccinated, you might get a breakthrough case, but it looks like you won’t be…
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