Writing Blog
Author interview with Breaking the Rules’ Melinda Dozier
What a pleasure to have a return visit from talented – and prolific – romance author, Melinda Dozier. Full disclosure: Melinda just happens to be one of my fantastic critique partners, too. If you missed my author interview with Melinda on her first novel, Time Changes Everything, you can see it here. 2013 has been…
Read MoreDreaming of a writing get-away
I’ve already written about how I sometimes dream, when I travel, of a room with a view where I can take a little writing retreat. When I visit these idyllic places, I am generally exploring with family or friends, and I don’t have the time – or desire – to seek out the solitude needed…
Read MoreAuthor Jhumpa Lahiri reading in the Roman Forum
Last week, I went to see an author whose work I admire read in the Roman Forum. The American author Jhumpa Lahiri is in Rome as the 2013 Writer in Residence at John Cabot University. I saw her introduce the reading with Italian author Francesca Marciano, where she she spoke about her love of Rome and the…
Read MoreA conversation with writer Francesca Marciano
An English-language university here in Rome hosts author nights, open to the public. Last year, I wrote about the fabulous Conversation with Joyce Carol Oates I attended. This year, I decided to attend a conversation and reading with the Italian author, Francesca Marciano. Ms Marciano was introduced by John Cabot University’s Writer in Residence, Jhumpa…
Read MoreAbdicating the papacy in literature
When, on 11 February, Pope Benedict XVI announced that he would be abdicating the papacy, a modest 13th century Italian monk became an unlikely feature bar in newspapers worldwide. That’s because, before Pope Benedict’s surprising news, the last Pope to have resigned from his office was Pope Celestine V, way back in 1294. Pope Celestine’s…
Read MoreTime to sign up for the Matera Women’s Fiction Festival
As some of you may know, for the past two years I’ve attended the Women’s Fiction Festival held each September in the beautiful town of Matera, in Italy’s southern region of Basilicata. The festival is a great way to learn about the publishing industry today, how the environment is changing and what writers should do…
Read MoreWhich author do you write like?
My fantastic critique buddy, Nicola Layouni, posted a wonderful method of procrastination for writers tearing their hair out with revisions tool for writers. Using the “I write like analyzer” and pasting some pages of her text in the text box, Nicola discovered that she wrote like James Joyce. Pretty nice compliment, right? Since I’m right…
Read MoreGender-bias in book covers? Coverflip.
I’m proud to write women’s fiction, but I know this genre label can raise hackles far and wide. The argument goes that, when men and women write about similar, (often domestic) topics, the men’s work is seen as serious fiction (a.k.a. The Great American Novel), while the women’s work is written off as light, beach-reading…
Read MoreAuthor interview with Time Changes Everything’s Melinda Dozier
I am very excited to announce the launch of Time Changes Everything, a romance novel by Melinda Dozier. I’ve been faithfully following Melinda’s path to publication. Melinda has been one of my amazing critique partners for over a year, and I was so pleased when she informed me that the book I’d so enjoyed critiquing,…
Read MoreFavorite web resources for writers
I’m not always a fan of tecnology, and I often lament the fact that it takes us away from the daydreaming and writing that we writers should set aside more of our time in pursuing. But I’m also the first to admit that a writer’s job – particularly a writer just starting out – is…
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