How a Book Is Born, Part 12
In which I decide to kill off a character. And then rescind the decision.
In which I decide to kill off a character. And then rescind the decision.
We’re heading into one of those times of years where there are more demands on my time than time to deal with them. But as ever, I have a solution to my time-crunch problem. I just have to dig it out and remember what it is. Step back. I ask myself, “What are you doing,…
Occasionally aspiring writers ask me how I got my first romance published. I tell them that it began as a project — an assignment, really — that a colleague suggested I do when I told her that my agent liked the mystery I had submitted to her but thought the romance between the two main…
In my inbox: I have an agent who is new interested in my manuscript. Based on her existing clientele, I feel I have a good chance of sparking this woman’s attention. I also have a well-known agent sitting on a full of one and a partial of a second. In the event that either one…
I hate being uncertain, as you can probably tell by how sure I am that I am always right and how convinced I am that I know everything, or at least that I know everything I need to know and can find out the rest. But life kicks everyone’s ass, even those of us who…
A friend of mine always teases me about being held hostage when Jess is with me (as opposed to when Jess is with her father), because I answer the phone less and don’t talk as much. It’s absolutely true, and if said friend were to make an issue of it, my response would be, “Have…
Back when I was working as a literary agent, Writer’s Digest published an article I wrote on thinking like an agent. Though I’m an acquisitions editor now, not an agent, these pointers are all still true. I wanted to update them and share them with you. 7. It really does take that long to read…