Welcome, and new books announcement

Welcome to my blog! For a year or two, friends have been urging me to blog. But I was sooo busy--mostly with writing books. And writing takes such a lot of time--it really does. Especially if, like me, you're a perfectionist. What exactly does it mean to be a perfectionist about writing? Is it simply a foolish neurotic obsession with getting every word "right"--which is an impossible goal? Or is it more of a mental torture device for creating impossible goals?

I've set a challenge for myself with this blog: to appreciate the perfection of imperfection by writing without being careful of each word I set down. This might very well mean that I don't often blog. It could also mean I end up posting some delightfully flawed poetry. Or it could mean that I ramble on without cohesion and then have an identity crisis. It's an experiment.

My two new books on writing are now available. I know many fans have been patiently waiting for new fiction from me--and that's also on the way. But I just had to write Seize the Story and Wild Ink.

Now that they're done, I'm so happy and proud. Grateful, too--especially to my publisher, Cottonwood Press. There's nothing like working with friendly perfectionists! (Especially my editor.) I might even go so far as to say that when it comes to getting things done--and done well--friendly perfectionism is a hard-to-beat combination.

Enough preamble. About the books:
Seize the Story: A handbook for teens who like to write is for teens who love creative writing and want to know more about bringing forth your own characters, plots, dialogue, and settings. The book also talks about using bad times to write good stories and what to do when feeling blocked. (Can adults use this book? Absolutely.) It includes interviews and writing excerpts from other authors, too.

Wild Ink: How to Write Fiction For Young Adults is for people interested in writing YA novels. It's all about finding your inspiration and sticking with it until you reach The End of your book. It also demystifies the process of submitting your manuscript and getting published. Included: interviews with editors, agents, and other authors.

The official publication date for these books is September 1st, but they are actually available now!!

Other than that, here's a haiku:

across horizons
colors come and go, rise, fall
and travel quite far.