Margie Lawson When people talk, subtext happens. Every time. You can’t say one word without sharing subtext. Subtext for dialogue: The psychological message behind the words. When the words and the subtext are incongruent, the truth is in the subtext. In the real world, we factor in subtext all the time. On the page, we […]

Years ago, an instructor at the UCI Writing Project taught me how to identify the "golden lines" in a lesson, article, or book. Golden lines are the phrases, the ideas, the "takeaway" from whatever you're learning in life. Since then, after I attend a class or workshop, I review my notes and handouts, marking the golden lines. With […]

Heather Webb Launching a book—especially a debut—is an utter whirlwind of excitement, sobering facts, and unknowns. (We won’t even touch upon the extreme terror that hits from time to time.) But within this chaos, there are ways to tackle it all and stay sane. Let’s take a look at a few ways I manage a […]

Kelly Harms “But Kelly, why did you wait three years between books?” Three. Long. Years. That’s how long I went between publishing my first book, THE GOOD LUCK GIRLS OF SHIPWRECK LANE, and the one coming out now, THE MATCHMAKERS OF MINNOW BAY. Not because my publisher jerked me around—they’ve been wonderful. Not because of […]

Christina Delay You’ve heard about it. You’ve been in it. You may have even gotten lost in it. The writing cave. The mystical hole we decorate with junk food and tea and bury ourselves in to meet deadlines. It’s comfortable. We have our favorite, overstuffed chair and a wash-worn blanket we cuddle in. A candle […]