I have reached the Irascible Season. It’s not that I don’t enjoy the holidays—I do. The problem is that Thanksgiving arrives right in the middle of a very busy time of the semester (my day job is university professor). And Read more
This month I want to talk about the importance of length. No, not that—get your mind out of the gutter! I mean story length. There are no set industry length standards for different kinds of fiction; different publishers (and other Read more
Some of my earliest memories are in this room, a couple of years before this photo was taken. I share with you so you can appreciate the full beauty of early 1970s suburban Chicago wallpaper. On Sunday afternoons, my dad Read more
Lately I’ve been writing recommendation letters for my students who are applying for jobs or graduate schools. It’s a little more challenging nowadays, since I haven’t seen any of them face-to-face for 18 months, but I’m still happy to be Read more
Back in June I wrote about some of the things that can make writing go slooooowly, even if the writer isn’t suffering from writer’s block. I’m pleased to say I finally finished the novella I was working back then, although Read more
I was going to write about something else this month, but… I got distracted. My younger daughter and I recently returned from a 3900-mile, 10-state road trip. It was great to have the opportunity to spend time with her before Read more