“The greatest art offers us images by which to imagine our lives. And once the imagination has been awakened, it is procreative: through it we can give more than we were given, say more than we had to say.”
“We … Read more
Even when a character’s daily essentials don’t actually make the final cut of the novel, I like to know what he or she carries around. In The Knife and the Butterfly, Azael carries just about everything he’s got (which isn’t … Read more
-19. Damn it, what else am I going to cut?
If you use Twitter, you know what I’m talking about. I’m one of those people who (think they) need a 1,400 character limit. But that’s exactly why Twitter is good … Read more
Two truths about handling criticism:
Truth #1: One of the BEST things you can do as a writer is to heed criticism from others.
Truth #2: One of the WORST things you can do as a writer is to heed … Read more
I’m a big fan of the building-on-your-strengths school of thought. I can expend energy trying to be someone I’m not (e.g., a humorist), or I can put that energy to work in a direction that’s natural for me. But when … Read more
This is a page from my writer’s notebook back before the story for What Can’t Wait even existed, back when I was just doing exploratory writing to find my way into the characters.
People often ask me, “how much of … Read more
Possibly I have given the impression that my days teaching in Houston were nothing but hard work and success. This is what happens when you tell about challening experiences through the blessed buffer of years. In fact, though, this page … Read more
You’ve seen them around, those super cool clouds of most frequent words in a text. Maybe you saw the ones that were floating around after the most recent state of the union speech. See word clouds for a number of … Read more
Twice in the past two weeks my brain has worked overtime for me outside of normal business hours to cook some ideas for me with very little conscious effort on my part.
Maybe–like some men I know–the brain will only … Read more
I can’t help it. Nobody asked for advice, but I have to share the strategy that–in addition to divine intervention–helped me realize that my best friend (and husband) Arnulfo was the only man for me.
First we have to go … Read more
