The YA Scavenger Hunt is HERE!

Folks, it's that time again! Time for the special, secret, one and only YA SCAVENGER HUNT! This bi-annual event was first organized by author Colleen Houck as a way to give readers a chance to gain access to exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors...and a chance to win some awesome prizes! On this hunt, you not [...]

It’s time for the YA Scavenger Hunt!

The YA Scavenger Hunt is one of my favorite little subsections of the YA lit community. Every spring, readers get to go on a magical adventure of discovering new books and new authors, all while getting to read deleted scenes, listen to book-inspired playlists, and earn the chance to win bookish prizes (like free books!). [...]

Can “The Voice” Be Silenced?

The other day, I had lunch with an actress/musician friend who, by all outside appearances, seems wildly successful. Her band spent last summer touring with a major music festival. She performs with a theater company whose work has been lauded by The New York Times, The New Yorker, and Vogue. I always picture her as [...]

Behind the Cover: How I (Briefly) Became the Client from Hell

Today was a big day for me, and for WHEN THE BEAT DROPS. Today, my cover was revealed on the wonderful YA book blog, Pop! Goes the Reader. (Here's a sneak peek—you can check out the whole thing over on Jen's blog.) Much like a book, a book cover doesn't just appear fully formed from [...]

3 Ways to Work on Your Novel that Aren’t Writing or Revising

"I need to be working on my novel! But I don't have the time/mental clarity/emotional energy/anything close to ideal conditions to draft a chapter. But I need to work on my novel! Aaaaaagh. What do I do?" Does this sound like the inside of your head? Because sometimes (heh, ok, more than sometimes) it's a [...]

The “Sex and the City” Secret to Writing Dynamic Scenes

I have a confession to make: I just watched Sex and the City for the first time last year. Even though I live in NYC and love shoes and pink cocktails. Even though I briefly dreamed of being a sex columnist. Even though I am a woman in my 30s who grew up in America. [...]

How I Balance Writing with Being a Mom

My secret to work/life balance? Ditch the things that don't matter right now.

It’s Here. It’s Real. OMG.

It happened today. The moment every writer dreams of. I saw my book announcement on Publisher's Weekly. I actually got the call from my agent about this offer back in ... I want to say March? I was sitting on the couch with a sleeping baby on my lap, scrolling through random Amazon listings on [...]

How to Write With Yourself, Not Against Yourself

I was recently sitting around a table with a bunch of writers, discussing how we write. "I get up at 5am every morning and write for two hours," said a guy who has been working on his sprawling family epic novel for eight years. We all sat back and looked at him, jaws hanging open. [...]

That time I tried to make an author website

You know that thing where you think you have all the time in the world for something and then it needs to happen OMGNOW? That's what happened with this website. For the past few years I've been blissfully coasting along, thinking I don't need an author website, and then all of a sudden I have [...]