I didn’t have a blog idea for today because my daughter Kelly was supposed to write a blog about the whole Wall Street Journal opinion piece calling (practically) for the censorship of a glut of YA books, including several that Kelly read and enjoyed. And she wrote it, but didn’t finish it, and she’s sleeping now (because it’s one in the morning) and while I debated waking her up to meet her deadline (I gave her five days!) I decided to let her sleep. (Who says I’m not a considerate mom?) I’m going to make her finish it and I’ll… Read More

I have a confession. I love television more than the movies. I never knew why until I started writing this blog tonight and realized that I also love reading a book series more than a stand alone. Sure, on occasion there is an amazing movie that transcends the plethora of so-so productions. THE DEPARTED, for example. Or INCEPTION. Or CASABLANCA, NORTH BY NORTHWEST, THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, and THE SIXTH SENSE. But more often than note, the movie is “good” but rarely “great.” (Had THE MATRIX or PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN ended after the first spectacular movie, I would have included… Read More

I’m sure most of you have seen the T-shirt with a mountain of books and the words, “So Many Books, So Little Time.” We all have our own towering TBR piles. I’ve decided that when you get unread books together, they procreate, because that’s the only explanation I have for my growing TBR piles. I wouldn’t actually buy any more books when I have so many unread, would I? (cough) But it’s not books I haven’t read that give me fits. It’s books I haven’t written. I will never say I have too many ideas for fear of jinxing my… Read More

Before I started seriously writing, I read a minimum of one book a week. Usually two or three books a week, in addition to school or work or raising the kids. When I was on maternity leave with my son in the summer of 2001, I read 77 books in four months. Two of those books — THE THIRD VICTIM by Lisa Gardner and THE SEARCH by Iris Johansen — jumpstarted my dormant writing. I’d put aside writing when I started having kids, because raising kids + working full time = no time for writing. I changed that in March… Read More