Yesterday I got into a car accident. More accurately, I caused an accident. I rear-ended a nun as I was trying to dial my BlackBerry. I thank God (and I do mean that literally) that no one was hurt. Emergency vehicles arrived (five total). Hands trembled (mine). Tears flowed (mine). Professionals soothed (mostly me). Cars [...]
Last night I had the pleasure of seeing author Elizabeth Gilbert speak at the opening night of the Drew Heinz Lecture Series here in Pittsburgh. Oddly enough, I’d had a hard time finding a friend willing to attend with me. I thought every woman had enjoyed Eat Pray Love, her memoir of getting over a [...]
I enjoy reading literary agent Nathan Bransford’s blog. Partially because both our websites have an orange and white color scheme, but mostly because of his humor and insight into the increasingly dismal world of publishing. This week is especially enjoyable because he has deemed it Positivity Week, tossing us writers some much-needed life preservers like [...]
In the happiness corner, congratulations to my blogger friend Susan Courtad at One-Woman Show on becoming engaged! I’m one of many faithful readers who have been following Susan’s adventures in singlehood. And this love story, like all her stories, is a warm and funny read. I can’t help but think this is a good omen [...]
Tracy Beckerman is a very funny writer with a syndicated column, Lost in Suburbia, and a newly published book, Rebel Without a Minivan . It’s a compilation of some of her best columns, and it’s excellent. I’m not just saying that because I edited the book. Or because I’m the first person she thanks in [...]
My friend and fellow writer Beth Polen has made it to the Semi-Finals of the Amazon.com Breakthrough Novel Award! I’ve had the honor of reading her young-adult novel Wish — she workshopped the manuscript in some Fat Plum Book Boot Camps that I helped run — and it’s a terrific book. Beth is an [...]
After I allowed myself to consider giving up on my novel, a funny thing happened. The universe conspired to get me back into it. A Fat Plum client left me a voice mail saying she was trying unsuccessfully to reach Judy (who was having email issues), so I called Judy, who I hadn’t talked to [...]
Right before Christmas, I received my fourth agent rejection letter on Maharishiville. It wasn’t a horrible letter, as rejections go. Though the agent felt it lacked the tension and momentum to keep her turning the pages, she liked the premise and found the story entertaining and the lead character likable. But as I finished [...]
WOOOHOOO I DID IT! Just minutes ago I finished my NaNoWriMo 50,000-word novel. Actually, it came to 50,768 words by the time I finished up the final scene. It is now 6:55 in the evening, a pizza is on its way and I’m off to crack open a couple of beers with my husband to [...]
I wrote my word quotas yesterday and today while sitting in a comfy chair at Panera, right under a speaker blaring Christmas music. I tried to move (even though the easy chairs are my sacred spot) and learned that every seat in Panera is under the speakers. I guess they’ve cranked up the stereo to [...]