. It’s a word with connotations, all of them bad. “I can’t stand your attitude” is the prelude to a barrage of personal failings that start and end with nothing good. This seems strange, because at first glance, “attitude” seems like a neutral word. But let’s examine the definitions that Merriam-Webster posts for it. Aha.… Continue reading The Pep-Squad Police and YOUR Attitude
Writers, put down those red pens, because I have bad news for you. We’ve all seen the lists of words to weed from your prose, phrases editors hate, little pet peeves that get on other writers’ nerves, and even those of a few readers. If you are a dutiful and Good™ writer, you went through… Continue reading Writing Is the Least Important Part of Your Book
Regarding #TheContinent. The Twitterverse has once again erupted in controversy over a problematic book. Let me sum it up in the vaguest way possible, so I can keep re-using this same summary when the exact same situation inevitably happens again next month. Person wrote book. They loved this book. They found it to be diverse… Continue reading It isn’t about Authors, It’s About Gatekeepers
I’ve gotten into the terrible habit of reading the reviews my books get. This is an awful idea for many reasons. First of all, while reviews on my books tend to be positive, they aren’t all. This means that if I read a bad one, my day is sent into a spiral of ever more… Continue reading Reading My Own Reviews Is Basically the Worst Idea Ever
Banned Books Week: the week trade publishers who have already made a butt-load off a certain book try to make a little more by pretending to be oppressed. Call me cynical. What is this week? It’s the week we talk about books that regularly get banned from schools, libraries, and even entire towns. Texts… Continue reading Why I Stopped Caring About Banned Books Week
Last week I ran a giveaway. I gave away copies of the first book of my series. I gave away a thousand of them in exchange for people signing up for my newsletter. A thousand books! That’s more than I’ve sold. And now a thousand people are, I hope, reading What Boys Are Made Of. Maybe they’ll… Continue reading It’s Not Flattery, It’s Blood-Sucking Theft.
I know I’ve talked about tenses before. I’ve said lots about how much I love present tense, and why you should give it a chance. But today, I’m taking a different track. I’m talking about how past tense might actually be trying to kill me. This seems excessive, I know. “Past tense is a construct… Continue reading Me, Dying in Past Tense
It’s there on Twitter, the name of a city, and the words “Pray for” in front of it. #prayforBrussels #prayforParis #prayforOrlando And I know there was tragedy, minutes or hours ago. I Google the city, read the article. Sometimes whatever happened is still ongoing, so I read another. Not a third. Never a third. Not… Continue reading #prayfor__________
What does it take to make you put down a book and walk away, never to resume reading again? A couple weeks ago, I was reading a book that was less than steller. The first chapter had seemed exceptionally funny and well-written, but within a few pages of where the Amazon preview had ended (and I had… Continue reading When Do Books Cross the Line from Outdated to Unacceptable?
An article from NPR on the phenomenon of people liking certain foods and not others came across my newsfeed. They managed to draw out a thousand words on people have preferences (imagine!) before the comments started, and like a numpty, I read them. There is no one more sanctimonious than the people whose kids happily… Continue reading Don’t Call Me A Picky Eater
Under-Paid, Over-Enthused 