Queer writer of speculative and YA fiction
I’m glad you asked! At the moment, I’m on Chapter 14 of the sequel to The Unwanted (working title is Prophecy Boy), and I’ve outlined it to be 18 chapters long. So, I’m more than 75 percent done. This is a good thing, I think. I’m writing this post on Friday, and I’m hoping to finish …
I’ve been sending out a lot of submissions to magazines lately. One of my targets last year was a submission a month. This year, I’m aiming for a submission a week. Usually, I’ll send the same story simultaneously to two or three magazines that I think would be good fits. (Almost all magazines are willing …
Continue reading "When it comes to editing: If in doubt, cut it"
"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they go by." --Douglas Adams Sorry, Douglas. You may be one of my favorite writers, but I'm going to have to disagree with you here. Sort of. I love deadlines, too. I love hitting them, that is. Deadlines keep me honest. They force me …
I've been thinking about Wonder Woman a lot lately. This comes as a surprise to no one who knows me. I've been a huge fan of the amazing Amazon since I was may be seven years old, cutting out pictures of Lynda Carter and pasting them in scrapbooks. I bought the comic book every month, …
Like I mentioned earlier, my goal this year is to read some of the books I already own. I have a bad book-buying habit that is not matched by my book-reading habit—I always manage to find a book at the library that must be read right now or an e-book on sale that I can't …
Continue reading "Friday Reads, or Project "Read My Own Damn Books""
Those are just three of the things that have been keeping me from playing in traffic this week. 1. If you're awaiting Alexander Chee's new novel, The Queen of the Night, as eagerly as I am, drop everything and go over here right now to read the first chapter. It's been a heck of a long …
Continue reading "A queen, an abyss, and planet 9 from outer space"
There's a piece of paper that I've taped to my computer monitor. It has one word on it: Why? Bear with me, it'll become clear in a second. I'm not a big fan of year-in-review letters or blog posts, but I can see some value in looking back over the past year (or the past …
I'm a runner. I started running when I was fifteen and except for a recurring back injury, I haven't stopped since. So my friend Jane Campbell's essay at Hazlitt on running, pain, and persevering when you just want to end it (spoilers: it's about more than just running) was a breathtakingly awesome read. Meanwhile, over …
Continue reading "What I've been reading: talented friends, memoir, and social media"
I think the writing-related question I get asked most often is where do you get your ideas? My answer: Costco. They sell them in bulk. Kidding, obviously. Once I’ve finished writing a story, though, here’s the question I ask myself most often: Now what do I do with it? The first answer, obviously, is revise …
So, the Powerball jackpot got me thinking a lot about writing this week. For those who aren't familiar, a) you must pay attention to the news even less than I do (which is not much), and b) the jackpot is now up to $1.3 billion. Wow, that's a lot. Even if four people got tickets with …