It’s not often I get filthy-mad after watching current affairs programs. I don’t watch a lot of TV. 60 Minutes is the exception, mostly because Sunday night is my night off and it has a good mix of human-triumph stories and the hard-hitting stuff, plus the odd prod to my social conscience. Last night’s combination […]
Category: Rant
Rant: fear is the root of my writers’ block…
I’ve suffered through many stages of writers’ block over the years. With each project it has manifested itself differently, like a virus that changes its biology just to thwart my immune system. Just when I figure out how to beat it, it pops up again in another form, each time stronger and more elusive. Each […]
Sticks and stones…
I don’t read too many bad reviews of my books. Not because they’re not out there (they are) but because I have three things buffering me against them: a kind publicist, a dearth of tech-savviness, and my own fear. I only stalk a few select blogs and they’re written by people I suspect fit the […]
Rant: Why editing can ruin writing…
As the family archivist, I suck. I throw away my kids’ masterpieces, the artwork they’ve toiled over, the stories they’ve perfected. I don’t keep their schoolbooks and I don’t take enough photos of those important occasions like school concerts or birthdays. I’m a watcher, I sneak up on them when they’re not looking. I keep […]
Rant: Honesty or diplomacy? That is the question:
Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to band with fellow YA writers To deflect the slings and arrows of adult criticism Or to take arms against shitty writing and wooden people (and glitter) And by opposing it (or them) end them. Sorry, Shakes. If there’s one question I hate to be asked, it’s this: […]
Rant: Don’t ask me for writing advice…
A writer friend recently lamented about the impossibility of moving on with her manuscript until she had made her previous pages perfect. And they were never perfect so she couldn’t get any momentum going. I rolled my eyes and started my spiel about self-sabotage and shitty first drafts and made her promise to write a […]
Rant: book bloggers harm literature…
So says the chair of Man Booker prize judges, Peter Stothard. You can read The Guardian article here. I don’t usually weigh in on the arguments spawned by articles like this. I’ve been a journalist and I know how spin works: put a sting in the title, irk the minority, kick back and enjoy the […]
Rant: The quiet people…
I write because I love it. I write because I can’t paint. I write because it’s a solitary profession, perfectly suited to an introvert like me. But I’ve discovered it’s no solitary profession—for every hour I spend writing, I spend the equivalent speaking in public, or preparing to speak in public, or having a nightmare […]