Applying Picture Book Structure to Your Manuscript

I was so excited to attend the Association of Writers & Writing Programs 2017 conference in Washington, D.C. a few weeks ago (#AWP17 to see tweets from the conference). I darted out of my hotel room Thursday morning, fueled by coffee and a thirst for knowledge....

Journey to the Center of the Query

Like the center of the Earth, the query letter is something of a mystery to me. I have probably spent more time writing and rewriting and editing that letter–and the elusive, all-important second paragraph–than I spent on chapters of my book. Well,...

Finding the Time to Write

Perhaps there is a parallel universe where storytellers need only imagine characters and plots and premises and themes, and those threads of imagination take it from there. The threads sit themselves down in front of the laptop and hammer out the first, second, fifth,...