February 15, 2010
Ever wondered why more people don’t follow you when you’ve followed them? Well, I’m not a mind-reader, but I know what turns me off… 1. YOU HAVEN’T PROVIDED A PHOTO The effort you put into […]
February 14, 2010
A turn of the century film of London traffic, 1903, that I found on Lee Jackson’s wonderful blog on Victorian London: The Cat’s Meat Shop. I think I’ll be a regular there now. It’s packed […]
February 10, 2010
THE LEFT HAND OF GOD by Paul Hoffman has benefited from one of the most perfect, and reasonably priced, marketing campaigns available to authors in today’s marketplace: the strength of the first three chapters. On […]
February 9, 2010
It’s almost time for the Big Sur Writing Workshop and this year I’m super excited because I’m only using it as a writing retreat. Instead, it’s my son who’s going to the workshop to […]
February 4, 2010
How is it possible to love a city as much as I love New York? It’s not even my home town. I only lived there for a few years, twenty years ago, yet each time […]
December 1, 2009
As another mad National Novel Writing Month challenge comes to a close I’m particularly grateful to have any words on the page at all, never mind over 50,000 of them. Quite what possessed me to […]
November 25, 2009
One of my favorite books of 2009 was Arthur Slade’s THE HUNCHBACK ASSIGNMENTS, so when Shelley Souza interviewed Arthur, I asked if she’d mind sharing their conversation here to spread the word. We need more books […]
November 24, 2009
It’s 1.27 am and the house is quiet. Even my hyper Irish hound is out cold. The cats are snoring ever so softly. No Harleys are thundering past my window, making the glass rattle in […]
November 23, 2009
I was delighted when Donald Maass, NY agent and president of the Donald Maass Literary Agency stopped by my chat room recently to answer a few questions for some of his recent workshop graduates. Here’s […]
October 21, 2009
I got a chance to interview debut YA fantasy author Janice Hardy for The Enchanted Inkpot blog this week, and I was so thrilled with her thoughts on the writing process and the genesis of […]
July 15, 2009
I just got an e-mail update from Laura saying the edited pitch I’ve posted here is “excellent – very nicely compressed and made more urgent.” So there you have it, straight from the agent’s mouth. […]
June 11, 2009
Meet Eric Elfman, screenwriter, author, writing coach and all-round nice guy. Eric is the author of 10 books for children and young adults, including The Very Scary Almanac and The Almanac of the Gross, Disgusting & […]