When my spouse spent two months in a hospital recovering from a stroke, he lost 35 pounds. He was on a special diet limiting sugar, fats, and portions and despite spending a lot of time in a bed, the weight rolled off. Problem: He didn’t think he was overweight, he didn’t look overweight, and yet … Read more

I’m going to use a few sports analogies here because I witnessed a college football game yesterday that made my point. The UCLA Bruins were down almost 30 points at halftime. They were outplayed, outmaneuvered, and stopped cold by a team that appeared to be superior. Their coach said they went into the locker room … Read more

We’ve all heard the metaphorical phrase, “don’t judge a book by its cover.” We know it means look beneath the surface of a person before forming an opinion, rather than judging them by their outer trappings or behavior. But authors have a different take on the subject. We’re hammered daily by writing advice sites that … Read more

I became a professional writer at the age of ten when the generous owner of a children’s dress shop paid me four dollars for a four-line poem advertising her establishment. The moment is what’s called an “inciting incident.” It gave me confidence to write more poems, then essays, then a column in my local newspaper … Read more

As writers, we’re told not to write to the market, but to write what we know, what we love. It’s safer, they say, because markets change quickly. What’s popular today might have waned by the time our book comes out. My favorite phrase relating to this advice is, “Vampires are dead.” Yup, they certainly are. … Read more