Posts by Christina Consolino
Story Time
Once upon a time not so long ago, there was a woman who wanted to be a writer. Actually, she was a writer, but she didn’t know what to do with her writing, and since she placed her family’s needs and wants above her own, those writings collected dust in a box in a closet…
Read MoreLearning as We Go: An Interview with Diana and Michele of Wine, Women & Words
I am thrilled to have Diana Giovinazzo and Michele Leivas from the podcast Wine, Women & Words here today. This dynamic duo (I’m so lucky to know another one) was gracious enough to have me and my debut novel on their podcast in February, and I knew instantly that I wanted to interview them for…
Read More#ThrowbackThursdayBookstagram: Empire Falls
Welcome back to our #ThrowbackThursdayBookstagram feature! I haven’t posted on this topic since late September, and I’m happy to be back. Up this week is Pulitzer Prize–winning EMPIRE FALLS by Richard Russo. What’s interesting about this book is that I remember buying it at Borders Books in Ann Arbor on East Liberty Street (I still…
Read MoreEighteen: Making Memories
Dear Aaron, I had all the plans in the world to begin this letter in September. When that didn’t happen, I moved my goal to early October. Then mid-October. But then, well, you know what occurred: my Mom took a turn for the worse, and I spent her last days with her and then more…
Read MoreLife Lessons from Mom
When I stand in front of the classroom, I always tell my new crop of students two things: I talk way too fast—and I know it—and I get the hiccups often. The same would probably apply here if I were to read this aloud, and today, I give you one more warning—I might not make…
Read MoreAssisting in Other People’s Success: An Interview with Ashley Hasty
Ashley Hasty of Hasty Book List and The Best of Women’s Fiction podcast and I have not met in real life, but Ashley is the sort of person I could have grilled for ages! My interview stops at nine questions, but when she publishes that first book—and it will happen, Ashley!—I will be inviting her…
Read MoreEducation These Days
It’s been a week, friends. A week and then some. And none of the things that have made it “a week” are bad or big or obnoxious, in and of themselves. But all put together? Those little things—computer not working properly (touchpad, touchscreen, keyboard, you know, all the things I use on a daily basis),…
Read MoreFrom a Little Spark . . .
I usually don’t go this long without posting, but lately, life has been a bit full, shall we say. Full of parental concerns, full of pet concerns, full of writing and editing projects not directly associated with this blog. With minimal hair and teeth pulling, I finished my synopsis and query letter and sent the…
Read MoreInvested in Telling the Truth: An Interview with Deborah A. Lott
Stories about families—fiction or nonfiction—interest me greatly, which is part of the reason I wanted to help shed light on Deborah A. Lott‘s Don’t Go Crazy Without Me, which released in April 2020. Mark Doty, memoir writer and National Book Award Winner, wrote of the book, “It’s an astonishingly vivid book, and to read it…
Read MoreYou Get What You Pay For
Every so often, potential individual clients reach out to me for a cost estimate, usually regarding a manuscript. (I say “every so often” because much of the editing work I do is for established clients like consulting companies and hybrid publishers, whereby the rate of service is already set.) “How much would you charge for…
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