Reading, wRiting, and Roaming with Author Valerie Biel

My four favorite books from the past two months include a poignant middle-grade novel, a beautifully written adult fiction, a spiritual book about connecting with nature, and a wonderfully suspenseful, twisting thriller.

But there’s this other thing I did that I need to talk about … it makes me feel guilty perhaps because it was so indulgent. I binge-read 49 other books (all in the same series), one after another after another. It was lovely, but I have so much guilt, because I have a rather large stack of other books waiting to be read and reviewed. But this binge of books taught me a few things about series writing and myself, which I share further into this post. First, let’s celebrate four excellent books:

I didn’t become a coffee drinker until my forties. How did I survive without it? I’m an early bird, so coffee, my computer, and my characters are what I’m about at five o’clock in the morning. Also, I love local coffee shops. They’re great places to meet friends and make notes about writing projects. (I can’t write in public spaces, though. Too distracting. When I write, it has to be in a quiet spot without noise or diversion.)

I’m a member of a writer’s group where we share chapters of our mystery-novels-in-progress. We have different writing styles, characters, and plots, but one location we write about is similar: The coffee shop.

Coffee shops are our “third place.” A home-away-from-home where... Continue Reading

THE BIG 5 BECOME THE BIG 4

HARPERCOLLINS ACQUIRES HOUGHTON MIFFLIN HARCOURT TRADE DIVISION

5 AUTHOR SIDE HUSTLE IDEAS

ARTISTIC JEALOUSY IN THE TIME OF QUARANTINE

FEATURED ARTICLES

The Big 5 Become the Big 4

It’s been in the works since late last year, but it looks like now it is official. Penguin Random House will acquire Simon & Schuster for $2.2 billion. (You may remember that Penguin and Random House merged back in 2013, reducing the big 6 publishers to the big 5.) The other three are Macmillan, Hachette Book Group, and HarperCollins. Kirkus has a comprehensive article on the merger. There’s plenty of... Continue Reading

It’s coming. Revision of my finished manuscript is approaching like warm weather—and mud and bugs. Writing the second draft of my novel will occupy my summer. I’m looking forward to the process like a new season; it promises new life and fresh ideas. But with every silver lining, there’s a cloud. Revising book chapters that have been ingrained in my mind for a year will be a challenge.

The subject of this blog post is in response to a survey that Valerie Biel conducted among her readers. How does a writer approach the second draft of a novel?

I’m offering advice for revision: First, consult (or create!) your book’s outline to highlight the... Continue Reading