I never realized how important first lines were until I started writing them.
Read moreLunchtime Poll with Elisa Lorello
Meet Elisa!
I can’t think of a better person with whom to introduce this segment than my friend, the amazing Elisa Lorello. Elisa is a GenXer with serious 80s credentials. Not only is she a bestselling author, she is also an educator and Duran Duran superfan.
Welcome to a new feature in which I ask an author a bunch of ridiculous questions and a few serious ones.
*Yes, just like Heathers, minus all the murder-y reindeer games
I can’t think of a better person with whom to introduce this segment than my friend, the amazing Elisa Lorello. Elisa is a GenXer with serious 80s credentials. Not only is she a bestselling author, she is also an educator and Duran Duran superfan.
Okay, Elisa, since ALL OF YOU is set in the music industry, today’s lunchtime poll is all about 80s music:
Read moreBeverly Cleary, Age 107
It is no April Fool’s joke when I say that the author that has most impacted my writing and reading life is Beverly Cleary. Yes, she’s a children’s book author and all her characters are, at the oldest, 13 or 14. But reading her books as a child was magical, and rereading them as an adult to my children, and often on my own just for fun, I realize that she had a gift of being able to distill important characteristics, emotional journeys and complicated plots down to their essence in such a succinct style that her books can be read and understood by her many readers. This doesn’t make the stories or the stakes childish. It makes them accessible to all ages, including 50 year olds.
Read moreFive 80’s YA Books That Shaped Me as a Writer
Love, family, and friendship. The hope, humor, and heartbreak involved in every meaningful relationship. This is what I write about. And I must thank the following five books that I read as a teen for shaping my author identity today.
Read moreLove and Writing, Some Thoughts...
Just a little something I have been toying with… presented unpolished and incomplete. I hope you enjoy. -J
Love is like writing.
Use care when choosing your words in both. Once spoken, your words belong to another. You cannot take them back.
You may think you know the ending, but you can never guess the plot.
There will be twists and turns and unexpected hardships. Villains and saviors will appear out of the blue.
There will be laughter amidst tears and angry words shouted on sunny days.
There might be a dog.
To write a novel, you must make a commitment to show up everyday, ready to do hard work.
Love requires the same tenacity.
Writing happens word by word, building sentence by sentence into a story.
Love happens minute by minute, building days upon days until you have created a life together.
Writing and love take time, support, commitment and conscious choice.
Words cannot write themselves; love cannot flourish alone.
Your enthusiasm for writing may wax and wane, some days will be harder than others.
The same is true for love.
Mistakes happen in writing. When you see one, fix it. Take care not to repeat it.
When you make a mistake, own it. Apologize. Fix it to the best of your ability. Avoid making it in the future.
Writing comes from experience.
Love grows with experience.
Good writing endures while well-tended love blossoms into future generations.
Be a love story worth writing about and write a story people will love.