I can’t get to the bookstore*, not an unread novel in the house and I HAVE TO READ SOMETHING. My options seem to be Revolutionary War histories, biographies of composers, and Talmudic discourses. Where is David Sedaris when you need him?

*Yes, I know there are libraries. Can’t get there either. Also, I like to own books. That’s why I’m poor.

It has been at least a week since my secret admirer from Brazil  visited my blog. I suppose all good things must come to an end, but I hate losing my Sao Paolo fanbase.

I’m such a damn romantic. I wanted the guy to get the girl from page one, and he didn’t, which upset me, even though the ending made perfect sense and was more interesting. Tell us the name of the book, I hear you cry. Nu-uh, because then I would have to write Spoiler Alert.

It pairs writers with great concepts, but limited writing skills, with writers with great writing skills but not much imagination. Oh, wait, it’s already been done.* It’s called Celebrities and Ghostwriters ‘r Us.

*Not really

How did I not know about this wonderful book? It’s older than I am. I could have read it as a girl.* Maybe I wouldn’t have appreciated it then, though. I only learned to love Jane Austen as an adult.

*I was never a boy, so I didn’t have that option.

Fun fact: Dodie Smith, the author, also wrote The Hundred and One Dalmatians.

For those of you not familiar with it, it’s a website where nascent ( and some post-nascent) authors post there works to develop a fan base and/or edit. It’s a great editing tool. I use it for that purpose. But many of the posted stories are written by young women and girls and an occasional male. The writing is hideous and I can’t get past the first chapter. They may have several million followers, despite. But I digress.* The point is I found a delightful and well written novelette by an established author** and I read it twice.

*The eight or nine of you who regularly read this blog will note that I always do. At least I use asterisks.

**Her name is Colleen Hoover and the story is Finding Cinderella, and I’m not her agent or publisher, though I wish I were, even though I’m not an agent or a publisher.

I don’t think characters in realistic novels need to behave the way a ‘real’ person would, nor do I think events must unfold as they would in the ‘real’ world, but they do have to conform to the rules of the universe the author has created.*

*ok, this post wasn’t funny at all. Maybe my evil twin wrote it.

Going to the Unicorn Conference in August. Even if I stop writing, I’ll probably keep going to conferences. Love being with smart, creative people, and I don’t have to make my own bed.

One of the scariest things in the world is hitting the ‘Send’ button after you finish your query letter.

After three days in NYC, I have finally mastered the art of writing to the sounds of sirens and a 3 year-old’s (completely justified) tantrums. Guess which is louder?