Weekly Roundup: July 14, 2023

Seems like it’s hot pretty much everywhere in the northern hemisphere right now, so I hope you are staying cool wherever you are. Here’s the roundup! Quote of the week:“Sometimes I think, I need a spare heart to feel all the things I feel.” —Sanober Khan, “Spare Heart,” in A Thousand Flamingos What I’m reading:Banyan — Read More

Why stories matter: Practicing empathy with fiction

I worry that people think dust has settled after the election. It shouldn’t settle. There is so much that is (and should be) very unsettled. Regardless of your political opinions, the election was a 9.0 on the Richter Scale. It shook us. We realized we are not as united as we thought. People we assumed were on — Read More

Famous authors on why they write

Every now and then, I ask myself why I write. I mean, it’s such a strange thing–creating these all-consuming alternate realities and fretting about them for months on end. It calms me to see how other writers describe their need to write. I’ve collected some favorite quotes here: “I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what — Read More

Book clubs, I’m coming for you

I’m embarking on a virtual book club tour, talking with readers in cities where my characters stopped on their road trip from California to New York. No matter what city you’re in, contact me if you’re interested in an author appearance (via phone, Skype, or in person) at your club meeting. If you’re looking for questions — Read More

An interview with my husband

When my book was released back in May, I was on a local radio show (full broadcast here) and my husband Chris tagged along for support. At one point in the interview, the host directed a question at Chris: “What’s it like being married to a writer?” Chris was not expecting any questions at all, — Read More

A chat with Anita Hughes

When PEOPLE WHO KNEW ME was released in May, I realized I didn’t know much about the publishing industry. My publicist suggested I rebel against my introverted tendencies and talk to other authors to get their take on the business of writing. Thankfully, there are quite a few authors in southern California. There’s even one — Read More

Writing without a goal

People told me that once I published a book, I’d have to be careful not to let “the industry” distract me from my love of writing for the sake of writing. I didn’t think this would be a problem for me, but it has been. Before publishing a book, I wrote the stories I wanted to — Read More

Why you don’t want to be friends with a writer

I hate prioritizing. Or, rather, I hate having to prioritize. I frequently fantasize about a stress-free life with wide open spaces of time to gradually tackle everything on my life to-do list. The key word in that sentence: fantasize. The reality is that I have a very busy day job, meaning the only “free time” I have — Read More