Monday, November 21, 2022
Thursday, March 11, 2021
It's Official!
I'm delighted to share that The Claiming has been picked up by the incredible Val Mathews at The Wild Rose Press. I can't wait to share these quirky misfit characters with the world!
Monday, January 25, 2021
Exciting News!
So happy to officially announce that I am now represented by the wonderful and fabulous Shannon Orso of Victress Literary!
Not only does Shannon really know her stuff, but the community of writers and agents at Victress is unbelievably supportive of each other--always pushing each other to create their best works. I can't wait to get going!
Monday, November 16, 2020
Tuesday, September 15, 2020
So Excited!
The 2020 PNWA Conference is coming up--which is super exciting in and of itself--so many great authors, agents, and editors presenting.
But my personally exciting news is that I have been selected as a FINALIST in the Literary Contest for my YA Contemporary, Fish Food and Other Constellations.
Honored, thrilled. All the good feelings.
Can't wait for the conference!
Thursday, June 6, 2019
Writing is Revision
We all know this.
It doesn't make it easier.
We want to take that first draft and shine it up a bit and be finished, praying that somehow the amazing thing we had in our heads miraculously translated onto the page.
It doesn't work like that.
Polishing up a first draft would be the equivalent of scooping raw clay from the earth, applying glaze and throwing it in the kiln. I'm not an expert on pottery, but I'm pretty sure that would lead to a shiny glob. Not useful. Not too beautiful.
But, if we were to take that pile of raw earthen stuff, and start to shape it, it could be beautiful. That's the work of drafting and revising. It's taking things out, and stretching. It's molding and shaping. It's coming to look at that material and finding new properties in it.
And then undergoing the firing process--working out the impurities--let's call that critique. It's all necessary.
Maybe it's painful. Maybe the "firing" hurts--I've had a couple of occasions when the critique poked my buttons--or found buttons I didn't know I had. And even then, when I took a step back and looked honestly at the work, I could see the value in those observations. And I was able to make the work better.
And that's the point, right?
We have these characters in our heads, and we want to honor their stories in the very best way that we can. That's what I have to remind myself through the revision process. That it's getting better. That my characters are becoming real--to someone other than me. That their stories are absolutely worth every arduous revision.
It doesn't make it easier.
We want to take that first draft and shine it up a bit and be finished, praying that somehow the amazing thing we had in our heads miraculously translated onto the page.
It doesn't work like that.
Polishing up a first draft would be the equivalent of scooping raw clay from the earth, applying glaze and throwing it in the kiln. I'm not an expert on pottery, but I'm pretty sure that would lead to a shiny glob. Not useful. Not too beautiful.
But, if we were to take that pile of raw earthen stuff, and start to shape it, it could be beautiful. That's the work of drafting and revising. It's taking things out, and stretching. It's molding and shaping. It's coming to look at that material and finding new properties in it.
And then undergoing the firing process--working out the impurities--let's call that critique. It's all necessary.
Maybe it's painful. Maybe the "firing" hurts--I've had a couple of occasions when the critique poked my buttons--or found buttons I didn't know I had. And even then, when I took a step back and looked honestly at the work, I could see the value in those observations. And I was able to make the work better.
And that's the point, right?
We have these characters in our heads, and we want to honor their stories in the very best way that we can. That's what I have to remind myself through the revision process. That it's getting better. That my characters are becoming real--to someone other than me. That their stories are absolutely worth every arduous revision.
Sunday, March 18, 2018
SCBWI: Cheerleaders for the "Not Yet"
Writers live notoriously lonely lives. And maybe a few people make it really big and get to tour their published books, greeted by thousands of adoring fans. But even those folks still have to go back to their laptops/desktops/notebooks and sit down and write new things. All by themselves.
And yet we know that we need community. We need collaborators. We need encouragers. And for those of us who are not (yet) published, we need people around us to give us that voice of face to face encouragement, that little nudge to keep going. Much of this can happen in relationships with agents and editors.
But I am not there yet. I hope to be someday. In the meantime, I have SCBWI.
This is the Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. They can be found at www.scbwi.org
I stumbled across them while living in Germany. I found a critique group because of them. Then, when I moved to Portland, Oregon, I found another. I started going to mini-workshops and conferences.
There were maybe two dozen people at my first workshop in Stuttgart--I had no idea what it would be like. I didn't know any of the publishing terms. I wouldn't share anything out loud. And still, these lovely people welcomed me--at least they let me eat lunch with them and ask dozens of questions.
In the next and the next and the next, I learned more publishing terms and protocols. I started to learn how to hone my craft. I am still learning, and at each event I can squeeze in--which are admittedly few and far between--I take away one more small nugget of insight or encouragement.
At one of these, a newly published author encouraged us all that if we weren't published, it was a matter of "Not Yet" not an issue of "Not Ever". It had taken her two decades to get that first book out in the world. "Yet" became the watchword for the weekend. And I have been hanging on to it since.
Thank you to all of the people I have met through SCBWI--for your encouragement and enthusiasm and for making me a name tag that reads "writer".
And yet we know that we need community. We need collaborators. We need encouragers. And for those of us who are not (yet) published, we need people around us to give us that voice of face to face encouragement, that little nudge to keep going. Much of this can happen in relationships with agents and editors.
But I am not there yet. I hope to be someday. In the meantime, I have SCBWI.
This is the Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. They can be found at www.scbwi.org
I stumbled across them while living in Germany. I found a critique group because of them. Then, when I moved to Portland, Oregon, I found another. I started going to mini-workshops and conferences.
There were maybe two dozen people at my first workshop in Stuttgart--I had no idea what it would be like. I didn't know any of the publishing terms. I wouldn't share anything out loud. And still, these lovely people welcomed me--at least they let me eat lunch with them and ask dozens of questions.
In the next and the next and the next, I learned more publishing terms and protocols. I started to learn how to hone my craft. I am still learning, and at each event I can squeeze in--which are admittedly few and far between--I take away one more small nugget of insight or encouragement.
At one of these, a newly published author encouraged us all that if we weren't published, it was a matter of "Not Yet" not an issue of "Not Ever". It had taken her two decades to get that first book out in the world. "Yet" became the watchword for the weekend. And I have been hanging on to it since.
Thank you to all of the people I have met through SCBWI--for your encouragement and enthusiasm and for making me a name tag that reads "writer".
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