“No offense, but…”: The book review every writer is afraid they will get
All this talk on various blogs about whether or not writers should be posting negative book reviews has got me thinking about my own...
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- Feb 7, 2011
- 1 min
Book review: Love That Dog by Sharon Creech
I got this book as a Christmas present, and it looked like a quick read, so I read it out loud with my husband while I was supposed to be...
- Feb 1, 2011
- 3 min
Ambiguous Endings: Brilliant or Lazy?
Due to the nature of this blogpost, there will be spoilers for The Giver and for Inception (the movie). So consider yourself forewarned....
- Jan 24, 2011
- 1 min
New Year WIP Updates
My writing and my parenting seem to be taking over my ability to churn out blog posts. Huh. Didn’t see that one coming. So I thought I’d...
- Nov 30, 2010
- 1 min
What I learned from #NaNoWriMo
And even though I didn’t get around to the full 50k, I got a lot done. Writing a novel takes a lot more effort than just writing words on...
- Nov 15, 2010
- 2 min
How to Form Your Own Critique Group: Step #3
Now that you’ve planned out your group and advertised for members, what’s next? Step #3: Selecting Members Once you have a bunch of...
- Nov 2, 2010
- 2 min
My goals for NaNoWriMo
I’m participating in NaNoWriMo this year! The point of National Novel Writing Month is basically to take one month to write one new full...
- Nov 1, 2010
- 2 min
How to Form Your Own Critique Group: Step #2
Now that you’ve planned out your group, what’s next? Step #2: Finding Members If you are already part of a large writing group, it may...
- Oct 25, 2010
- 2 min
How to Form Your Own Critique Group: Step #1
Step #1: Planning When I was starting up our group (or rather when we were starting our group since I started it with another writer who...
- Oct 18, 2010
- 4 min
Medical Fiction Question #2: Labor Pains
Q: From writer DH (question edited for clarity): If you don’t mind, I’m having a hard time writing a scene for childbirth, and I can’t...
- Oct 4, 2010
- 3 min
My epiphany: it’s about the writing, stupid
After almost two and a half years of writing full time, I’ve finally realized that I need to write. It’s not about being published for...
- Sep 27, 2010
- 1 min
Ancient Astronomy and Other Fine Careers
When I was little, I knew I wanted to be was a scientist or a mathematician. After going to college and finding out more about the fields...
- Aug 30, 2010
- 2 min
The Great Balancing Act: Part-time Writer, Full-Time Mom
I miss the good old days before the baby (writing-wise, at least). I’d roll out of bed, eat breakfast, and then write until I was...
- Aug 9, 2010
- 1 min
How to Watch TV Like a Novelist Part Three: Details, details
Here’s a little writing exercise for you: Take a look at the picture above and try and describe it to yourself. Once you’ve described it...
- Aug 2, 2010
- 4 min
Medical fiction question #1: The Disorderly Orderly
Abbreviated/edited email: Dear Amitha, I’m working on a short story that takes place in a hospital. The patient is in the room with his...
- Jul 19, 2010
- 2 min
How to Watch TV Like a Novelist Part Two: Questioning the Plot
All right, so last time we talked about characters. Today, let’s discuss plot. Here are some questions to ask yourself when watching TV...
- Jul 5, 2010
- 2 min
Book Review: Uglies by Scott Westerfield
Anyway, the book is about a young girl named Tally who is living in a post-apocalyptic future where everyone gets major reconstructive...
- Jun 28, 2010
- 2 min
How to Watch TV Like a Novelist Part One–4 Questions About Characters
I like to watch TV. Everyone knows this. (I even blog about it.) Sometimes I have an excuse to watch, like I had a hard day, or someone...
- Jun 9, 2010
- 1 min
Have Medical Questions about Your Novel? Email me!
I’ve gotten a bunch of emails about my “How to Write a Hospital Scene” guest post from writers curious about how to fix their...
- Apr 16, 2010
- 1 min
Helping Make Doctor Visits Less Scary — Free Online Read-Along Stories for Kids at HANS
Along that vein (pun not intended), I recently came across the website for the Help Autism Now Society. Because autistic kids often have...
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