Do You Need an MFA to Be a Successful Writer? 3 Things an MFA Won’t Do for You
This weekend is the Newburyport Literary Festival, and I’m thrilled to be moderating a panel called “Inspiration to Publication: The Journey of a Debut Author,” with editor Sarah Cantin, agent Susanna...
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CAPE DISAPPOINTMENT: SHOULD YOU GIVE UP ON YOUR NOVEL?
Last month, I flew to Oregon to visit my daughter. Our mission, in part, was to find her a wedding dress, but because neither of us is much of a shopper, we spent more time blissfully hiking than...
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Why Do You Want to Write a Book?
A few nights ago, a new neighbor dropped by. She came late in the evening and stayed so long that I figured she must want to ask me something, but didn’t know how. Sure enough, she finally said, “So,...
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On Dogs and Writing
It’s raining again. This is the third day in a row where I’ve had to take the dogs outside beneath wind-lashed trees, my supposedly waterproof jacket soaking up water like I’m wearing a newspaper...
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3 Key Writing Lessons from Vertigo
I was doing an online yoga class at home when the mat came up to meet me. Literally, one minute I was in forward fold, head dangling, and the next I was feeling the mat smack me in the forehead. When...
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The Art of Revising a Book
Recently, I stayed in an Airbnb where someone had tied the top tissues of all of the Kleenex boxes into bows. My first instinct was to laugh because they looked so comical. Then I thought, “Good for...
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Why We Write: Desk Ecstasy
I recently cleaned out the basket where I toss magazines I don’t have time to read. Naturally, in the process of valiantly trying to cull through old issues, I found several I couldn’t put down and...
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How a Sunday Drive Led Me to an Island Home (Part I)
The beach at the end of our red dirt road I never meant to buy a second home. I certainly never intended to buy one on an island a full 11-hour drive away from my house in Massachusetts. By that time...
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How a Sunday Drive Led Me to an Island Home (Part II)
Things move slowly on an island. By the time we actually stepped inside the house we’d bought sight unseen on Prince Edward Island (See Part I here), it was late October. The intervening weeks had...
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How a Sunday Drive Led Me to an Island Home (Part III): A Hurricane, Cat...
As I write this, Prince Edward Island is still in recovery mode after Hurricane Fiona washed out roads and bridges, collapsed barns and houses, uprooted thousands of trees, and left ninety percent of...
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