Simplicity challenge

From the far corner of the living room, our four-year-old G piped up and said, “We should get rid of all my toys, too. I don’t really need them.” So, we did.

A boy and his pillow casket

He sits in it all the time. Usually, it’s an alien spaceship or a Pokémon ball or a house or a bed. Today, it was the casket for his baby-doll’s father. (So… him.)

The secret lives of real books: Video insanity!

Know what happens in a bookstore at night once everyone has left? This is awesome.

A Christmas wish for writers

Optimism and faith. Maybe they’re the same. Whatever be the names of the things that make us stronger, make us better, make us stretch into whoever it is we’re becoming, I wish them all for you.

The truest December memories

It was adrenaline and restless sleep, being banished from the living room, overhearing the adults joking and wrapping. It was the feeling of flying, knowing you’d be safely caught.

A secret glimpse into the real world of writing

This is how it REALLY is. Unfortunately.

Ringing true: creating realistic characters

Fiction readers do not want role models. They want to read about themselves. And no one is the antagonist in his own movie.

Nothing bad can happen to a writer

Nothing bad can happen to a writer.

Everything is material.

~~Philip Roth, novelist

13 free writing meters, progress trackers, and word counters

Here are the best places to get a free word counter, meter, or widget for your blog, profile, or website.

Forget the facts and let’s be practical

Whatever your story, whoever the players, the odds are good that the folks who saw your life unfold remember it completely differently.