Drivel is better than the blank page. Adjust your thinking and get back to work. — You’ve probably heard the quotation oft ascribed to Hemingway: There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed. And if you’ve done any creative writing, chances are you’ve probably waxed poetic about a blank page before. (Guilty 👋) These are valid responses, of…

What do you need for a book club? People and books — that’s about it! But here’s a few things you may want to think about as you’re getting ready for that first meeting. — Who is invited? Is anyone in charge? Did you have the idea for this book club alone or with a friend? If it’s the latter, you’ll want to make sure you’re on the same page. Are you keeping it small, or is more merrier? Most book clubs function as loose democracies, where decisions are made as needed…

October is National Reading Group Month! — Soon after moving back to the Newcastle-Gateshead area in 2015, I posted in my new neighborhood’s Facebook group to find out if there was a local book club. It turned out there was a lot of interest in the idea, and very quickly a small group of us had set…

Hybrid publishers are not self-publishing providers or vanity presses. So what makes this model different from traditional publishing? — If you’d asked me five years ago what hybrid publishing was, I would not have been able to tell you. …

Last year, I had one tomato plant and tried to plant a few seeds. The seeds sprouted and withered. The tomato wasted away from too much sun and not enough water. Still I persist. — When I lived in the UK, I dubbed myself “plant kween,” benevolent mother of an assortment of pepper, aloe, and other plants. This ignored the fact that I was literally incapable of keeping any flowers alive against the barrage of slugs that slimed up their stems and gnawed them to…

Do your kids like to wake you up early to ask what’s for breakfast? Why not let them find it themselves? — One of the activities that I remember best from my childhood slumber parties were Jungle Breakfasts. It was like an Easter egg hunt for breakfast! My mom, a staunch Girl Scout — devoted to self-empowerment, leadership, active citizenship, and all those other virtues encouraged by the organization (which, at the…

Do you love to read? Does getting to see a book before it officially launches sound exciting to you? — In the past, reviews printed before a book was published primarily appeared in newspapers and magazines. But as the publishing industry has become more democratized, book reviews have as well. You may have heard of “early reviewers” before in connection with newly released retail products, but authors and publishers also…

A vow of silence. The sting of nettles. What a princess can teach us about pertinacity and isolation to save lives. — The Tale When I was a kid, one of my favorite books on the shelf in our living room was an old copy of The Wild Swans by Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by Rene Cloke. The dustjacket was cracked and ripped in places, and some of the illustrations were already beginning to…

Most people know meditation as a practice of counting your breaths. For me, singing — in the car, my apartment, etc. — has helped more. — I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently. By recently, I guess I really mean for the past year and a half or so. I grew up with a sister who participated in chorus all through middle and high school. You generally knew my sister was home when, from downstairs…