On the challenges of writing fiction

When you’re trying to solve a problem, you have to ask the right question. For the 100 choices list I posted yesterday, I began by thinking about how all of us could probably use a few extra bucks about now. I posed the problem this way: How can I make money this year as a…

The other night I had a dream that Jessica was lost, and though I kept calling for her, I knew she was never coming back. I hate this dream. Sometimes it goes away for a while, but it is never gone. In a few weeks Jessica undergoes more testing. In February when we scheduled the…

When I first began training in the martial arts, I had to learn to trust my teachers–when they said I could do something I didn’t think I could do, I had to try. Then I would discover that I could do the thing. As I became more accomplished in the martial arts, I realized that…

So I had excellent intentions of embarking on a blog challenge that started April 1, and suddenly here it is, practically the middle of June. I don’t normally ignore my blog for that long, and some of you have asked me privately if everything is all right, and I appreciate that. Jessica is fine—in fact,…

I see these memes going around: “At age 30, JK Rowling was depressed and wanted to give up, but she didn’t and now she’s worth 15 kajillion dollars, so you shouldn’t give up either!” And I just . . . think that’s bullshit. It’s not helpful. In fact, I think it’s discouraging. You’re more likely…