I stand in line at the post office. A long line. I have lots of time to think. Did I remember to put everything in the package? Did I spell my name right? Would Mr. Important Agent think my writing inept? Inane? Irredeemably moronic? Nothing like hanging yourself out...

I think the whole writing process would have been simpler if we had named it rewriting. Take my kids, for example. They write their paper about ancient Greek culture and they think they’re done. The term “rough draft” evokes a horror somewhat akin to having a cell...

I’ve discovered my weakness. Too many words. I don’t mean the spoken kind. I mean the written kind. One of the best things that ever happened to me occurred when I wanted to submit my work to a contest. I thought I’d written a pretty decent piece. Then I saw the word...

So I’ve got great news. My novel writing career is starting just like J. K. Rowling’s. With rejection. Alas. But hey, all the biggies suffer it. I’m in good company. The point is, I’m no longer a wannabe writer. I’ve moved up to being a real live rejected writer....

Here’s an economically unsound idea. Spend months and months writing a book that no one may want to publish. Uh, yeah, let’s look for the economic winner plan. How ‘bout while I’m spending months and months writing a book no one may publish, I trickle off a little...

One of the cool things about being a writer is that there are a plethora of other like-minded writers to support you in your weirdness. You just have to find them. Say you’re talking about some poor fellow you know, and lamenting all his struggles for like, half an...

So a really good thing happened. I got rejected again. I should clarify. My manuscript got rejected, not me personally. It’s been the best thing that’s happened so far for my writing career. I’d worked hard on my manuscript. I had a good relationship with the agent I...

So I’ve been taking the latest rejection of my nonfiction manuscript as a redirection, and I’m having a jolly time writing humorous fiction. I sit on my couch and giggle. Really, I have to be careful I don’t make myself spew coffee from my nose. I know, I know. I’m...

While I’m at the writers conference where I get interest from a fabulous agent about my nonfiction dog book proposal, I also take the opportunity to get feedback on my novel. After all, that’s fun writing too. My previous contest results for the novel tell me the...

We left my conference story at the point where I’m supposed to introduce myself to a complete stranger (Ms. Super Agent), tell what happened at my critique session, and ask for a fifteen minute appointment with this woman who’s been a fiction editor for years and...

On the way home from the conference, I ride with my forehead against the window. I’m frozen, like the moment in time where Karen Ball, editor/author/agent extraordinaire, tells me I have an actual gift. The night is black, with no lights below. I know we’re going over...

Over the next few days, a burden presses on me. One that began with the bizarre whiplash of meeting literary agent Karen Ball. Odd that I would go into a conference thinking about the two agents I’d sent my dog book to, and then come out with a totally new plan. I...

I’m not Hemingway. Or Tolstoy, or Steinbeck. Or even Clancy, Koontz, or King. No shock there. But it’s nice if once an a while someone gasps and says, “Really? I’m sure you’re right up there with the best.” This is a good thing coming from your non-writer friends. Or...

So another conference is rolling around. I know. It sounds like all I do is go to conferences. Really, the last conference was in the spring. I’ve just been turtle-speed about posting the whole story. But I do like conferences, so I figured I’d post a three tips in...

After months and months of writing work, God has led my writing career exactly where I didn’t think it was going. In a good way, though. I mean, it’s like aiming for Disneyland and realizing you’ve arrived at Disney World instead. They’re both happy places. When we...

  Proposal: A big long document I have to write to convince the publishing company that they should spend thousands and thousands of dollars publishing my book. And just an FYI—when I say they spend thousands, it’s not me they give that to. It’s the managers,...

Typing “the end” feels amazing (when it’s the last page of your novel and not some tragic note about the demise of your Oreo package). Both my proposals are done, my novel manuscript is complete, and my agent and I are at another conference—the Mount Hermon Christian...

“PubCo” (AKA Publishing Committee, or Pub Board): A big scary meeting at a publishing house. Remember the editor who first receives the book proposals? Who sifts through her boundless stack, pores over the writing, debates a book’s marketability, scrutinizes the...