During his almost seven years of being loved by his family (human and furry), Nicky tested the theory of being a good boy often, and frequently tried to prove that he was rather the best worst dog to ever live. Despite (and maybe because of) his chaotic nature, Nicky’s Alpha…

This is not a story about Writer’s Block and trying to find ideas. I have plenty of ideas. What I need is time to write them down. I even have space to write — a room of one’s own. I love that room. …

I’ve lost my filter. Especially when it comes to how I talk to my husband and my kids. I used to be a diplomatic, thoughtful, mindful human. Now I just say whatever is in my head. This is my not my usual modus operandi, but somewhere around Day 45, when…

And how to help yourself by helping others during a pandemic We’re anxious. We’re uncertain. We’re worried. That’s all normal and important to validate. How do we alleviate that? Studies show it’s by helping others. I’ve worked with nonprofits for decades, and recently gave a workshop about the personal benefits…

A guide for anxious people who want to at least pretend they are normal What I really should be doing right now is editing the book I’m trying to get published. You know, the one I wrote about a pandemic virus that ends the world (and only the women survive)…

Embracing my inner weird made me a more confident writer — I met dozens of writers at my first writer’s conference. There were hundreds of us descending upon midtown Manhattan (which means no one in NYC noticed). Tucked into the bowels of windowless conference rooms were so many people dedicated to story telling that it made my heart sing. I learned…

Tools for new authors learning about agents, the publishing industry, and some great free advice — While I did study screenwriting back in college, I did not study novel writing, publishing, marketing, or a whole bunch of other things that would be generally useful to the writer I am becoming now. So when I decided I wanted to be a novelist, and be traditionally published (still…

Inside My Writing Head, Again I haven’t been writing much in the blog department while I’ve been writing my novel. The great, American, elusive, kick my butt novel. This writing thing is funny, because I love the short form immediate-gratification of blog, post, hear responses, see applause, collect some actual writing money (my last monthly…

Am I Not Good at Receiving Writing Feedback, or Afraid of an Echo Chamber? The funny thing about being a writer is that everyone has a lot of advice about what I should or should not write. Not only readers — I actually love hearing from readers — but also…