Annotated

Whenever I start writing a book, I make myself a syllabus. The syllabus morphs as the story takes shape, but by the time the book is done, I usually have a big list of authors to whom I feel a debt of gratitude. I compiled my list of books that were particularly...

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Climactic

When I was wee, I was told that this was a story: You struggle toward a goal, and it's hard, but then you make it. And boy, it's exciting! Then you lounge peacefully in the realm of Happily Ever After. I absorbed this shape. And not just because I write. I think most...

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The penguins gave me a cover

According to Google Analytics, most people who visit my website are either college classmates or YA readers. If you've been on this website before, you will probably be surprised that I know this information. An outside observer would probably look at my posts and...

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Day 9 in Hotel Quarantine

For the past nine days, I've been in a hotel room with windows that don't open. I can't leave. I don't even have a room key. Three times a day, someone knocks on my door with a paper bag of food. It's weird. But I'm very glad to be here. Hotel Quarantine...

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This Is What My Book Is About

Of my various skills (loud tongue clicks, beating my brother at Dominion, exercising while drinking carbonated water), none shines more brightly than my ability to dodge the question, "What's your book about?" I talk about my book a lot in the abstract and rarely...

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