Authorly Advice

Insights From The Writer's Perspective

The Why Versus The What March 8, 2020 Last year when Inheritance A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love by author Dani Shapiro was released, I stared at the book-signing schedule on her website. Not one signing event coincided with my schedule. And she was appearing everywhere. An … Continue Reading→		Why I Drove to Minneapolis to see Author Dani Shapiro June 16, 2017 People ask me, “why Iowa,” when they learn that Ed, Avy and I left San Francisco earlier this year. Their faces scrunch and I smile. Why not? People are friendly here. Friends offer to pick up your paper when your … Continue Reading→
Coming Soon… January 28, 2017 What it was like writing a draft memoir in Ellen Sussman’s Novel/Memoir in a Year class with no clear idea of what I was writing about. Continue Reading→		I Talked My Memoir to Death—Now What? January 19, 2016 This year, 2016, is the year I have committed to write. To goad myself into it, I signed up for best-selling author, Ellen Sussman’s Novel/Memoir in a Year class. I’ve studied writing with Ellen for years—since 2008 when I first met her … Continue Reading→
Letting My Writing Lie Fallow – By Harriet Chessman January 19, 2016 Last June in my blog Life Happens, I berated myself for not writing by comparing myself to writers who write every day—no matter what. In the comments section, several writers wrote encouraging me to return to my writing. Author, Harriet Chessman … Continue Reading→		The Wisdom of Not Talking Your Book to Death! June 24, 2015 Coming Soon: On the day I confided to a friend I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue writing my memoir, Peter Coyote made a comment in an interview with Phil Bronstein at the Commonwealth Club that left me excited to start writing … Continue Reading→
An Interview With Tracy Guzeman March 24, 2014 Tracy and I met four or five years ago in a weekly writing class hosted by New York Times bestselling author Ellen Sussman. In her class, Tracy’s short stories sounded like they came to her with effortless ease, and the … Continue Reading→