A few years back, I was on a book panel with a women’s fiction author. (I understand that classifying authors by genre, especially this one, can be controversial. I only mean that she writes modern-day, relationship-driven fiction with strong female protagonists.) An audience member asked us about our writing process and this author said, “Well,… Read More »

The characters in my books are like real people to me. Writing about them is akin to meeting new friends and telling their stories. Some characters roll into my life, all vivid and full of color. They’re easy to recognize and might have a lot to say for themselves. Others might shuffle around in the… Read More »

On the January morning I sat at my computer to begin Things We Have in Common, I had neither a title nor a story. I didn’t even know what kind of story I might write. In another mood, on another day, I fancied I might have written something entirely different. And maybe I would have.… Read More »

A year or so ago, I had an epiphany about my writing. I’d turned in a proposal for a novel I planned to write, and after reading it, my editor compared it more to a whodunit than a psychological suspense novel, as was my usual MO. This gave me pause. Though the premise had everything… Read More »