Yesterday I was inundated in condolence messages. In 2010, an eccentric art collector from New Mexico, Forrest Fenn, hid a chest of gold, jewels, and rare art pieces somewhere in…
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Chapter One Snow, Mirror, and Sludge Charlie’s fingers spidered across the neck of the violin as he drew the bow with gliding, clockwork precision. Oxford students wearing suits hurried…
After the death of his grandfather, Charlie is left only with the memories of Gramp’s stories and his violin. When a pretty girl named Ridley steals it, Charlie and his...
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I come from a generation half-raised by J.K. Rowling. Midnight releases, donning black robes on July 31st, and sorting people into houses was the bread and butter of my youth….
People are interesting. I love learning about people—where they grew up, and how they came to form the ideas and ways of life that they did. Sometimes I see patterns…
I’ve been to three writing conferences in the past few years. They have all truly been fun, illuminating experiences. But some conferences have a huge price tag—most costing at least…
I commute A LOT, and I always want to be working on writing, so I’ve explored a lot of podcasts out there. There are a few that I return to,…
I tell people often of how I felt a profound sense of relief when I threw my graduate application away, but the fact of the matter is that chucking it…
Querying is so hard! I have it down to an art—my letter is honed, and my agent research skills are primed. When I tried to query my first book, I…
I’ve told many people this story, but this is how I came to pursue writing novels and designing book covers. After graduating with a degree in English (because I…
When I first imagined following in the footsteps of J.K. Rowling, I didn’t imagine covering my identity with an alias. As I grow older, the idea of donning a new…
A Complete Editorial Process for Novelists Editing is sure to take the lifeblood from you. I think editing is how writers improve their craft most, but it is draining to…
My old boss told me that it’s good to have a career path lined up by the time you’re 27. It seemed like an arbitrary number at the time, but…
Surviving As A Writer By Cat Spydell When I was 12 years old, I remember sitting at the Formica kitchen table with my dad in our mountain vacation cabin near…
I turned 30! I feel… the same. I stayed up while my partner studied, and I wrote all my thoughts, dreams, and reflections as the clock struck midnight. I don’t…
I’m creating a writing course for NaNoWriMo! After doing NaNoWriMo several times, I’ve learned A LOT about writing a novel in a short framework. The most helpful thing I’ve found…
I am looking for YA Fantasy writers to help build the YA Fantasy Writers Hub! Because it is a lifestyle blog, you can contribute anything, as long as you can…
Over 15 years ago, when I was in high school, I remember meeting another writer on my cross country team. We would jog every day, and we would talk about…
My days have included LOTS of editing lately. I hired an amazing editor named Dascha Paylor (who writes, too!), and I’ve slowly been working through her edits. She suggested that…
Fun Things To Do in San Gil, Colombia That Spur Creativity Nothing has influenced my writing more than traveling. I highly recommend writers to take holidays and explore new places….
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