Invested 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…
Read More#ThrowbackThursdayBookstagram: Anna and the French Kiss
Some of the #ThrowbackThursdayBookstagram books make me nostalgic for so many things. Today’s book, ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS by Stephanie Perkins, is one of those. The story features Anna Oliphant, who must live in Paris for her senior year of high school. Of course, Anna isn’t looking forward to being away from her home…
Read MoreHow to Handle Self-Doubt
Disclaimer: Profanity ahead. All four of my children are good writers, but only the youngest enjoys it. Which is great for me, as she and I swap plot lines and brainstorm ideas and figure out how to up the stakes. She’s an excellent writing partner, though she can’t read all my work (she is only…
Read MoreSpecial Friendships: An Interview with Diane Barnes
I learned about author Diane Barnes over at the Lost Books of Lockdown, when I listened to an interview of her. Much of what she said resonated with me, especially the part about promoting our own work and how difficult it can be. But this interview exists as a way to help promote the work…
Read More#ThrowbackThursdayBookstagram: The Help
Our second #ThrowbackThursdayBookstagram for the month is THE HELP by Kathryn Stockett. First published in 2009, the book has 2,493,705 ratings on Goodreads, which is a heck of a number. The tagline for the book reads: “Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.” Those three woman are Skeeter, who has returned home…
Read More#ThrowbackThursdayBookstagram: Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
The title for the #ThrowbackThursdayBookstagram feature is UNBROKEN: A WORLD WAR II STORY OF SURVIVAL, RESILIENCE, AND REDEMPTION by Laura Hillenbrand. Eighty-five percent of the Amazon reviews for this book are five-star, and it stands as an Editor’s Pick. Nonfiction isn’t something I gravitate toward, though I enjoy it, but this book was hard to…
Read MoreClosed Door, Open Door
Today marks my last day as an editor with Literary Mama. I started there in January 2014, after sending them a letter that basically said, “Hire me! I’m enthusiastic.” Of course, I had a few editing credentials to my name, too, but Literary Mama had confidence in me before I had confidence in myself. They…
Read MoreFreedom in Writing: An Interview with Rebecca Cuthbert
Award-winning author Rebecca Cuthbert is one of the people I know, but I honestly can’t remember how or when our paths—literal or virtual—crossed! I think that’s the way it goes these days with social media and online writing communities. But how we met doesn’t matter. I’m thrilled to have her on the blog today because…
Read MoreAnother Year Older
My birthday has come and gone, and here I am, another year older. But am I wiser? That’s a question I like to ask myself. I’m not sure I have an answer though. Of course for me, the answers never come quickly—my mind doesn’t work that way. Even when I taught every day—a subject I…
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