2:38 PM 06/02/2018

New book alert! I'm working on a new middle grade fantasy, A Pinch of Villainy. This is probably the most fun I've ever had writing a book, and I can't wait to share this one. It's about a girl who's worked non-stop since she was six to be the world's greatest villain. And about a boy who wants to be a magical (non-evil) pastry chef, who accidentally gets in her way. If you want to learn more, you can do so here.

(Fun fact: I may be a great copy editor, but for some reason, my brain does not like the word villain. Every single time I type it, my brain goes STOP WAIT TYPO TYPO, and I have to triple check that there isn't a red squiggly line under the word. Considering what my new project is about, this is less than ideal. Here's hoping the problem fixes itself by the time I'm done writing the book!)

7:48 PM 03/13/2018

Sometimes, going back to an old project can be painful. For example, the book I wrote in high school…should never again see the light of day. Nothing on this planet could persuade me to let someone read it.

The exact opposite happened to me recently. In January, I decided to revisit an upper MG I first wrote in 2015, called The Lost Bones. I knew it needed a major rewrite that I've been itching to work on for quite some time. But I wasn't 100% sure how to write it, and I was simultaneously being urged to focus on some of my YA projects instead.

But I couldn't ever stop thinking about the MG project. And finally, in January, I decided I'd waited long enough.

As of 3:35 this morning, I finished my rewrite. Hurray! (Though, for the record, I've reached the age where staying up that late requires days of recovery…) Pretty soon, I'll be diving into a new round of edits (among other things, I want to cut about 8k words). But it felt so good to come back to this project and roll up my sleeves. It's brought me joy every day I've been able to work on it. And that's a pretty clear indication that it's what I was meant to be working on. :)

2:45 PM 10/22/2017

Fun new feature on the site! If you go to the Book Art page, you can now expand the pictures by clicking on them. Aren't they even more beautiful when they're bigger?

6:20 PM 10/21/2017

I've added a new book to my site! This is a project I'm currently working on, and I couldn't be more excited about it. If you'd like to learn more about this YA fantasy project, called Kingdom of Ore and Flowers, you can read about it here.

And, as a fun bonus, I also added a stunning new drawing for this project to the Book Art page!

9:20 AM 10/14/2017

Another fun new addition to the Book Art page! I realized that I didn't have any art of Caya's love interest in Luminary. A failing that absolutely needed to be rectified. The way Caya and Remi are looking at each other makes my heart melt. So adorable!

9:29 PM 2/24/2017

I've added some fun new Luminary stuff to the Book Art page! First I have a beautiful drawing of the symbol of the luminaries. And then a truly incredible map that someone created for me in exchange for a bit of copy editing. (Pretty sure I got the better end of that deal, because wow!)

10:05 PM 2/1/2017

News time! I'm now a copy editor for Entangled Publishing! This is a big (and exciting!) step for my freelance copy editing business, Brown Owl Editing. Not only that, but it's now my job to read ALL THE ROMANCE! If you ever meet me in person, and I'm walking around with a goofy grin and little hearts in my eyes? Well, now you'll know why.

8:15 PM 7/21/2016

I wrote a guest post as part of Krista Van Dolzer's The Writer's Voice: Where Are They Now? blog series. I was part of Krista's team in the 2013 Writer's Voice contest, with an early version of Luminary. It was the 2014 edition of the same contest where my amazing agent, Lisa, first requested pages of Tearless. And the rest, as they say, is history.

In this guest post, I talk about flushing inspiration out when it's gone into hiding, as relates to the (second) rewrite of Luminary. You can read the post here.

9:23 PM 5/12/2016

It's been quite a while since I've posted an update! But don't think that means I haven't been busy. I've had a lot going on, and now have the website updates to show for it.

First of all, I wrote a new book! It's a middle grade called The Lost Bones, and it's in the editing stages now. I'm absurdly excited about this one. If you want to check it out, I've added a new page for it under the BOOKS header.

I'm also in the process of completely rewriting Luminary. I love this new version to a profound degree, and can't wait to finish it so I can share it with the world. I've updated the blurb for this project on the existing Luminary page.

For a little bit of fun, I commissioned some beautiful artwork for Tearless and The Lost Bones. Then my wonderful friend Carrie surprised me with an amazing drawing for Luminary! All three were done by the same (extremely gifted) artist, and I get little hearts in my eyes whenever I see them. I plan to add more artwork to this page (for these and future projects) as time goes on. You can check these out on the new Book Art page (under the BOOKS header).

And, lastly, you may have noticed that a whole new section was added to the header bar last fall. It's pretty self-explanatory what it is (especially if you click on it), but to give you a brief update, I started my own freelance copy editing business. Brown Owl Editing is off to a great start, and I'm getting wonderful responses from my early clients . . . all of whom have enthusiastically promised to hire me for future work. (Several already have.) I truly love copy editing, so if you're in the market, please feel free to get in touch. I offer a free five-page copy edit to new clients.

That's it for now, but I hope to have more news soon!

10:34 PM 7/14/2015

The incomparable Brenda Drake is hosting an auction to help save the home of Veronica Bartles. There are all sorts of awesome critiques, signed books, and other amazing things up for grabs. Veronica is a truly wonderful person who has given so much to the writing community, and who I consider a very dear friend. I think it's amazing how so many people in publishing have rallied to help someone who truly deserves it.

Read about Veronica's terrible situation here.

Check out all the awesome items up for auction here.

And if you would like a full manuscript critique by me, you can find that here.

Happy bidding!

6:44 PM 7/3/2014

The lovely Mónica Bustamante Wagner asked me to write a guest post for her blog. (I'd never done a guest post before. How exciting!) Mónica was my coach in The Writer's Voice, which is what led me to my wonderful agent, Lisa!

8:19 PM 6/27/2014

I'm very excited to announce that I'm now represented by Lisa Jane Weller of Broadland Literary! I've added Lisa's information to the Contact page, and I posted a rather lengthy blog post about the whole thing here. I'm so excited about signing with Lisa and can't wait to get to work on my manuscripts!

9:16 AM 1/26/2014

Welcome to my new website! This is where I'll post any news I have.