This past weekend was the New England Crime Bake. It’s a writer’s conference that’s local to the Boston area. It’s also a special conference for me, because it was the one I found when I first Googled “mystery writer conferences” more than 20 years ago when I decided that I was going to write...
Productivity
It’s NaNoWriMo, and no, you don’t have to write 50K
Happy NaNoWriMo! It’s a writer’s favorite time of the year. November is National Novel Writing Month, the (somewhat insane) month where writers across the world decide to write a 50K word novel in 30 days. Yes, it sounds insane. But it’s also effective. Setting a goal like that is powerful....
How to know if you’re actually successful
Have you ever really stopped and thought about what success means? Like, to you. Not to your mom, or your dad, or your spouse, or Instagram. For instance: Is it a fancy title? A lot of money? (Also, what's a lot? Have you thought about it? Hint: there’s no right or wrong answer.) Is it getting...
How to do the work AND give yourself grace
I’ve got a reputation for being pretty hard on myself. I know where it came from, of course. A lot of self-reflection, journaling and excavating moments of my childhood reminded me that my parents expected a lot from me. I was “the smart one,” a title that, while flattering, was also intimidating...
Why saying no to everything can be the best thing
Sunday was the new moon in Libra. I love new moon energies—it’s all about starting over, setting new intentions, starting fresh. This moon in particular was all about finding balance. For me, and for a lot of my creative friends, that balance has as much to do with taking care of your creative...
How to get past all the lies and start creating
It’s one thing to get clear on our WHY when it comes to wanting to establish a creative practice. It’s another thing completely to figure out the HOW. I’m not alone here, am I? I was born knowing I was meant to create. And like a good little girl, I did all the logical things that would help me...
How to find your creative “why”
Before you can have a creative practice, you need to figure out WHY you want one. Because if you want it for the wrong reasons, it’s not going to come as easy as it should. For me, the why was easy. I was born with a love for stories. I demanded to be read to every day when I couldn’t read; when...
I wanted to clear something up
People hear the word creativity and think it has to mean “official” creative acts like writing, painting, drawing, pottery—creative careers. It doesn’t. As one of my greatest teachers, Louise Hay, always said, you can be creative in the way you make your bed, or cook dinner, or throw a party. You...