Blog
Quote wall: Jane Smiley
On the bulletin board above my desk, I keep a handful of quotes that have taught me something, or that I hope to learn from. Here's one: I believe that you either love the work or the rewards. Life is a lot easier if you love the work. —Jane Smiley
Novels and breakfast
Last year—two years ago?—while reading Station Eleven, I came upon these brief lines, in which Clark is thinking of his boyfriend, Robert: Robert in the mornings: he liked to read a novel while he ate breakfast. It was possibly the most civilized habit Clark had ever encountered. As
Preorder The Edge of Sleep for 25% off
A quick bonus post this week to share a special offer from Barnes & Noble: From Wednesday, 1/25, to Friday, 1/27, you can get 25% off all Barnes & Noble preorders using the code PREORDER25! Secure your copy of The Edge of Sleep today! Here are a few preorders I'm
Like and subscribe
The very first blog post I ever wrote was in 1998. I don't think the word 'blog' was being bandied about quite yet, though I could be wrong. And mine was hardly more than a static site I updated regularly with new entries. I've been thinking lately about how much
Chatty domicile
Here I sit at the dining table at midnight, tapping away on my little iPad keyboard. I should be working on my novel, except every few seconds I'm distracted: Something, somewhere in the house, keeps creaking and popping. I keep venturing into the dark living room, into the hallway, to
The worst kind of time-traveler
All week long I've thought it is a day later than it actually is. Sunday felt like a Monday, Monday like a Tuesday, and so on. You sort of expect this kind of thing to wear off pretty quickly, but no, here it is a Wednesday and I woke up
New year, new books
For a number of years now, I've tracked my reading on this site. Sometimes I have a grand goal; sometimes I just read whatever grabs my attention. My goal for 2022, for example, was to read mostly books by women or non-binary authors. (See how I did.) Reading with a
Favorite reads, 2022 edition
Every year, I track my reading habits on this web site. And every year, right about now, I take stock and consider which books meant the most to me. In 2022, I read 98 books. That's fewer than 2021, but still a nice, solid number. I've written two novels over
The Edge of Sleep
Happy to share a little book announcement here! The Edge of Sleep, coming June 2023The Edge of Sleep is an adaptation of the hit horror podcast [https://qcodemedia.com/theedgeofsleep]. Jake Emanuel and Willie Block—creators of the podcast and its upcoming TV adaptation—invited me to join them in
For every novel, a font of its own
I've been a designer for nearly as long as I've been a writer, and there's little I love more than a great font. Which is why it can be painful to encounter manuscript submission guidelines that require something like 12pt double-spaced Courier or Times New Roman. Don't get me wrong,