Enough with the artistic plight

This past weekend, I was having another bout of self-doubt (hey, I rhymed!) as I worked on a new novel. I started whining to my husband about how I don’t know where this book is going or if I can pull off the story and emotion I want. He said, “You’ll figure it out. Just — Read More

Writing when you have a day job

I’ve had a rush of inspiration lately. I want to write, write, write all the time and I can’t, can’t, can’t. Here’s where I’m at, fiction-wise: PEOPLE WHO KNEW ME comes out on May 24. I’ve had some marketing assignments related to the launch that are keeping me busy (more on this soon). While I was — Read More

Writing beyond fear

I’ve started working on a new thing (I’m hesitant to call it a novel yet) and I had a mini breakdown about it this weekend. I’m having all these “Can I pull this off?” thoughts. I’m overwhelmed by the task of piecing together the story, which has come to me in disjointed segments. It’s like a — Read More

Holy sh*t, people are reading my book

So, my publisher (St. Martin’s Press) is doing a giveaway of advanced copies of PEOPLE WHO KNEW ME on Goodreads. There are a couple days left, FYI. This is the second Goodreads giveaway. They did one a little while back and readers are starting to post… GULP … reviews. A while back, Stephen Colbert interviewed Jesse Eisenberg — Read More

Publishing Journey: Why pre-orders are SO important

In my last post, I wrote about how I really don’t want to tell you to pre-order my book. I feel weird doing that. So, instead, I’m going to explain why pre-orders are so important and let you draw your own conclusions. Sound good? Good. It’s like this: Pre-ordering an author’s book is pretty much the — Read More

Why I don’t want to tell you to pre-order my book

My book releases in less than 5 months. It seems like just yesterday that it was a year off. The other day, my friend said, “You should start telling people to pre-order it” (because pre-orders are very important, which deserves a post in itself. Stay tuned). I said, “Um, I can’t tell people that.” I — Read More

Spotlight on: M.L. Stedman

If you haven’t read The Light Between Oceans yet, I highly recommend adding it to your Amazon cart. It came out in 2012, so I’m a bit late to this particular party. Shameful confession: I’m never that excited to read historical fiction. I tend to think the characters are going to talk in their old-timey way — Read More

Publishing Journey: The galleys are here!

They’re here, they’re here! Christmas came early. If you’re wondering what the heck a galley is, let me explain. Book galleys (aka “bound galleys”) are the manuscript after it has been copyedited and typeset. It’s definitely not the final copy of the book. As you can see, the cover is not final. And my book — Read More