Pitch Wars 2018 Wishlist!

Who are you? Hello! I’m Laura. I write YA fantasy and I want to mentor your manuscript! If you’re not familiar with Pitch Wars, go check it out here. Essentially, it’s a writing competition/community/event that helps writers edit their manuscripts and connect with...

Writing Character Motivation

For more on writing motivated characters, check out this post on the difference between internal and external motivations.   All my favorite stories are character-driven. Oh, sure, you can write an action-packed tale of car chases and dragon slaying and all the...

How to Write a Query Letter

So you want to write an epic query letter, hmm? I queried 24 agents. Those queries turned into 17 full or partial requests. Those requests turned into four offers of representation (and a fifth request for more reading time, but I was so in love with Danielle that I...

My Book is a Real Thing™(!!!)

tl;dr: My book is a thing! It’s a thing you’re gonna get to read! Celebrate with me! Long version: When I was six, I decided I wanted to be an author. Not much has changed. Ahh, youth. When I was fourteen, I finished my first full length book. There were dragons and a...

The Case for Vulnerability

I recently had a couple of good friends describe me as “really upbeat and optimistic.” Which is awesome and all, but I couldn’t help myself from thinking… Really? I try my best to be a cheerful person—it’s something my parents emphasized the heck out of when I was...