writing

Does Back-to-School Make You Want to Start Something New?

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on September 8th, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

School is in session! My kiddo is officially in first grade! 

Pause here for a meditation on the unrelenting passage of time...

All joking aside, I love back-to-school season. I'm not necessarily one of those writers that goes on and on about school supplies—smelling bouquets of freshly sharpened pencils, cracking the spines of blank notebooks—but I do love the feeling of newness in the air. Everything smells like potential. 

Admittedly, September didn't mean as much to me between 2004 (college graduation) and 2008 (start of grad school), or between 2010 (finished grad school) and 2020 (my daughter started 3K). I'd see kids heading off to school with their shiny new backpacks and lunchboxes, and it would make me smile, but I didn't have any skin in the game myself, so to speak.

These days, the end of summer vacation carries more weight. It's not just the looming arrival of autumn (although when we did school drop-off on the first day at 8:15 a.m., it was already 85 degrees). Starting a new school year actually brings more changes to our lives than starting a new calendar year. (Maybe instead of new year's resolutions, we should make new school year's resolutions? But I digress.) It's as big a milestone as a birthday: she turned six, and now she's in first grade. First grade! 

I'm feeling those vibes in my own life, in a big way. But, since I'm not heading back to school myself anytime soon, it's more of a nebulous, drifting, wishing I were starting something new feeling. 

A new manuscript? A new freelance project? A new hobby? A new goal? 

Last week, I got Instagram-marketed to by a guided journal company. I clicked their attractive ad and got directed to a quiz meant to determine which fantastical, life-changing journey I needed to go on. I completed the quiz (why not?) and ever since, have been receiving daily emails with discount offers to actually buy the guided journal in question. I haven't taken that step yet...but I'm awfully tempted. 

I do feel like going on a journey. I do feel like starting fresh, like taking steps forward toward something unexpected or different or just...new. 

Do you get this feeling around back-to-school time? Do you act on it? If so, how? What do you do to find autumn equilibrium after the chaos and freedom of summer vacation? Do you try something new or double-down on routine until the feeling passes? 

Should I buy the guided journal?? 

There's a quote from The Lord of the Rings that's been bouncing around in my brain—probably because the guided journal's theme was finding fantasy/adventure in your everyday life: 

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to." 

I'm a bit ready to be swept off. I'm also a bit ready to become a homebody, with a book and a blanket and a mug of something warm and yummy on the table beside me. A hobbit, but maybe a hobbit on an adventure of sorts. 

I should buy the journal, right? 

~Kathryn 

What I'm: 

Reading: Kiss the Girl by Zoraida Cordova—the third romance novel in Disney's series of classic animated movie reimaginings. As you can probably guess, this one's based on The Little Mermaid. Ariel is a pop star wanting to get out from under her dad/manager's thumb, while Eric is the lead singer of an indie band on the rise. A fun read! 

Watching: I needed some giggles this week, so we started another series of "Taskmaster," the UK show where comedians complete ridiculous challenges. 

Eating: My daughter requested sandwiches from a local cafe as her last-day-of-summer-vacation lunch. Lest you think having a six-year-old is all sunshine and rainbows, here's how it went: she wanted to create a custom sandwich using one ingredient from each of the various specialty breakfast sandwiches. After we'd gotten the cashier to agree to this, my kid decided she didn't actually like eggs. So she got a regular turkey sandwich and I got bacon, egg, and cheese. Then, at the playground, she eyed my meal: "Are those scrambled eggs? I like scrambled eggs. Can I eat your sandwich?" 

Loving: Sandwich difficulties aside, it was a great summer. Here's one last glimpse of my gal walking in the surf. Until next year, beach... 

I Wrote a Whole Book This Summer!

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on September 1st, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

See that title up there? I think I'll shout it again: 

I wrote a whole book this summer! 

The second book in my write-for-hire contract is turned in to my editor and the client. I'll have at least one round of revisions, but for the next few weeks...it's out of my hands! 

I've been feeling triumphant since sending in my draft. In fact, this whole project has me feeling triumphant. I wrote most of book one while recovering from a detached retina in the spring. I wrote all of book two over my daughter's summer vacation, only some of which she spent in camp. (If I get to work on book three, I'm crossing my fingers for smoother sailing in the fall/winter?!) Working as a contractor, rather than as the sole creator, has been a new experience for me, but overall I've enjoyed it—and I can't wait for you to get to read the finished product in 2024. 

So what's next? 

I'm...not sure. 

Maybe that book three I mentioned, above. Or maybe (hopefully!) the second book in the Science & Strange series, currently being considered on proposal. Maybe a proposal for more Class Critters. Or maybe I finally get back to the standalone middle-grade I've been working on for years and for which I have possibly, finally, figured out the final missing puzzle piece. 

Or all of the above? 

I wrote about battling the blahs a few weeks ago—about the inevitable letdown at the end of a contract and the uncertainty of what's on the horizon. As I look forward now, I'm trying to focus on the positives. Like all of those potential stories, waiting to be told!

Maybe, one answer to "what's next?" is, what would bring me the most joy? What will get me excited each day, as I sit down at my computer with my coffee? Can I prioritize those things? That doesn't mean I'm not wearing my business hat. I definitely need to have a conversation with my literary agent to strategize my next moves. But...how can I look at my career in a way that focuses on creativity and inspiration and—I'll say it again—joy? 

Publishing books can be an anxious, uncertain thing. There are so many variables that affect whether what you write will reach readers. I've had enough letdowns in the eight-plus years that I've been a published author to know that I can't count on success. So, when I find myself enjoying writing something—looking forward to working on it—reading over it later feeling satisfied and fulfilled—that matters. 

I've enjoyed this write-for-hire gig. The original idea and main character sketch might not have come from my own imagination, but I've made them my own. I like spending time in this world. At the same time, there are other characters and worlds I'm eager to get back to. Series and sequels and drafts and ideas. 

I wrote a whole book this summer, and that's a huge accomplishment. 

I like the book I wrote this summer—also huge. 

I'm enjoying writing these days. I'm enjoying it a lot. 

That's the biggest win of all. 

~Kathryn 

What I'm: 

Reading: I snagged Kate Clayborn's Georgie, All Along from a box of free books a neighbor set out on their stoop—and I loved it! It's a romance about a woman who returns to her Virginia hometown, adrift after her assistant job in L.A. ends. When Georgie finds a scrapbook she and her best friend made in eighth grade, sharing their hopes and dreams (and perfect prom dates) for high school and beyond, she realizes that that was the last time she felt sure of herself and her future. Maybe looking back can help her find a path forward. (In the process, she meets the black-sheep, loner older brother of her high school crush...and sparks fly.) 

Watching: "Only Murders in the Building" keeps getting better. I can't recommend this show highly enough. 

Loving: During the last week of summer vacation, we squeezed in a few more adventures around the city. One day, I took the kiddo (joined by a friend and her two boys) to the Intrepid, a military museum housed on a decommissioned aircraft carrier docked in the Hudson River. Here she is exploring the flight deck, where they have tons of vintage jets and helicopters on display! 

Do You Gather Your Ingredients Before You Create?

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on August 25th, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

In my standard school visit presentation, there's a portion where I talk for a bit and then a portion where I ask the students to do an activity with me. When we're transitioning—when their teachers are handing out paper and clipboards and pencils and everyone's shifting gears from listening to participating—I always offer two important pieces of information for what's about to happen: 

  1. Students can write in response to my prompts and questions, or they can draw, or they can do both. There is no wrong way to participate! 

  2. I am not expecting them to complete an entire story in the next 15-20 minutes. 

I usually have to repeat that second one: We are not trying to write a story today. We're just gathering our ingredients. (My school visit is called "Recipe for a Story," so I use a lot of cooking metaphors!) 

Why do I stress this second point?

Because a lot of kids get anxious when they're asked (or when they think they're being asked) to produce something on the spot. Also, because each child will respond in a different way to what I'm asking them to do. I've had kids cover a whole page with writing during my activity. I've had kids draw elaborate pictures, filling every corner of the paper with tiny details. I've had kids jot down a bare-bones list of ideas, or a series of one-word answers to the questions I'm asking. And I've had kids get stuck on question one ("If you could turn into an animal for a day, what animal would you choose?"). 

The goal, I keep telling them as I circle the room, isn't to finish something today. It's to get ideas on the page that you can come back to later. Gathering your ingredients is the starting point. It takes time to cook up a whole story. 

This is not just true for kids. 

One of the reasons I've found drafting my write-for-hire project this summer to be a relative breeze is that when I sat down to work on the draft, I had all my ingredients gathered and organized. I'd brainstormed and outlined. I'd created a document that was already broken down by chapter, including a brief synopsis of what each chapter was meant to do. I'd jotted down important notes to myself and questions my editor and the client posed.

As I've shared before, this is not my strategy every single time I write a book. What is consistent is that I've learned to make ingredient-gathering a key part of the process. Sometimes, that looks like brainstorming over a period of weeks or months before actually diving in. Sometimes, that looks like creating a beat-sheet to see how the story might flow from one scene, or beat, to the next. Sometimes, that looks like outlining key story arcs. Sometimes, though not as much anymore, that looks like free-writing—like play (like I talked about last week)—to see what ingredients emerge organically on the page. 

In the food industry, this is called mise en place: the setup required before you actually begin to cook. It's setting out your tools. Chopping your vegetables. Arranging your herbs and spices. By preparing ahead of time, you streamline the cooking process. 

By preparing ahead of time—in whatever way makes sense to you, for the specific book you're working on—you can ease the writing process, as well. 

This year, I have had a new story idea brewing in my mind. I'm not sure exactly when I'll have time to write it. But I have already begun gathering my ingredients. I have a Word doc with bullet-pointed ideas that I add to from time to time, when something new occurs to me. When I'm truly ready to dive in, I may do a bit more prep work: character sketches, story beats, etc. Then I won't be starting from a total blank. Then, the actual cooking process can begin. 

What are some ways you gather your ingredients before you begin to create? 

~Kathryn 

What I'm: 

Reading: I shared on my Instagram this week that I read The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith, ostensibly for my summer reading challenge ("book set in a bucket-list destination"). This wonderful book is about a musician who goes on an Alaskan cruise with her dad after her mom's death. The two haven't gotten along in years—but this cruise might help them mend some fences. I really enjoyed this read...but I later realized that the actual square on the reading challenge grid is for "book set in a country on your bucket list"—and Alaska is not a country! Alas. 

Watching: "Ahsoka" on Disney+! This one is interesting, because I didn't watch either of the Star Wars cartoon series, and thus I'm going into this new show with some major gaps in my knowledge. That said, so far I'm enjoying it a lot. (Is my husband enjoying all the questions I'm asking about characters and their backstories? Remains to be seen...) 

Enjoying: Some slightly cooler summer weather in NYC this week. I love a good 80-degrees-and-breezy summer day! 

Loving: This purse my daughter made in her week of sewing camp!

Does Your Creative Process Include Play?

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on August 18th, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

This summer, I spent a little more time than usual in the dance studio. A teacher/choreographer I've performed for in the past brought a group of her "regulars" together for weekly rehearsals. Not because she had a big idea for a new dance piece. And not because there was a show on the horizon. Simply because...she wanted to play. 

She wanted to create.

She wanted to see where a few weeks of playful creation took us. 

There was no obligation to participate. She invited each of us for however many Sunday afternoons we could offer her. She reserved space, and we showed up, whenever we were able, ready and open. 

In July and August, we made almost six minutes of material. It's not set in stone. It's malleable. But it exists—in our bodies and on video. 

What does this process look like? So many different things! We remixed set sequences of choreography. We improvised together. We tried various pieces of music, to see how each one affected the movement and the feelings within it. Those of us who were present last week caught up those who weren't able to come, so everyone was on the same page. Dancers Zoomed in to participate remotely. It was a process filled with joy, laughter, gratitude, curiosity, and surprise. 

I hadn't rehearsed like this in years, and doing so this summer was a bit of a revelation.

It has me thinking about writing as play.

Once upon a time, free-writing was a part of my creative process. I'd sit down to play with an idea, just to see where it would lead me. Sometimes, that idea turned into something bigger! Other times, it fizzled. But the result wasn't really the point. The process of creating, of being ready and available and open, and of putting words on the page—that was what mattered. And I would ask myself to try different things: writing from new points of view, or switching up the tense, or having a character write poetry. I showed up, and I played, and every once in a while, I made magic. 

These days, more often than not, I'm starting from sturdier ground. I have an idea I've already settled on, and I know what the voice needs to sound like. Or I'm working in a document or with characters I know well. Or (in the case of my write-for-hire gig) I'm playing in someone else's sandbox—giving life to their characters, in a style of their choosing. Also, these days, my writing is very goal-oriented. I have a deadline, and I know what I need to do to make it there. 

But playing choreographically this summer has given me a bit of an itch to do the same with my writing. To sit down, maybe once a week, without a goal or even a set starting point. To show up at my laptop and just...write something. And the following week, to decide whether to develop it...or to set it aside and start something new. 

Do you make time for play in your creative process? Do you ever dive in without an intention or a plan, beyond simply seeing what happens? 

~Kathryn 

(Photo: performing with this choreographer, Diane McCarthy, in November 2018—I'm kneeling front right.) 

What I'm: 

Reading: My mom recommended The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson for the "book about books or libraries" square in my summer reading challenge. This novel is set in the 1930s, deep in the hollers of Kentucky, and follows the journeys of a "book woman"—a librarian who would ride a pack horse out to remote wilderness locations to bring books—and literacy—to mountain folk. An added interesting piece to this story is that the titular book woman has a blue skin tone, caused by a recessive blood disorder. Although there are whole families of "Blues," she deals with prejudice and scorn from her neighbors. I like learning about pockets of history that are new to me, and this book met that criteria on two fronts: "book women" and the "Blue People of Kentucky."   

Loving: My daughter and I took a “girl’s trip” to Tennessee to visit my parents (her Gigi and Doc)—and for me to visit a local elementary school to share my author presentation!

Battling the Blahs

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on August 4th, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

Earlier this week, I was feeling a little bit...blah. 

Not because of what I'm currently writing—I am absolutely crushing my drafting deadline, and will finish chapter 20 (out of 20) today! More on that next week...

No, the reason for this week's brief case of the blahs was that, once again, I am nearing the end of my contracted book work. "This happens to you a lot," my husband joked, and he's not wrong! Part of being a traditionally published author is never being sure (unless you are wildly, wildly successful) that you will get to publish another book.

This is why all the authors I know were so obsessed with Leigh Bardugo's recent twelve-book deal: that kind of thing simply does not happen. These days, a lot of publishers are loathe to offer even three-book deals! Of course, Leigh Bardugo is a safe bet for her publisher, especially since the Netflix "Shadow & Bone" series launched. Most, if not all, of those dozen books will hit the bestseller list. Macmillan will earn their money back, and then some. 

To me, the dream isn't just to make millions of dollars. (Though that would certainly be nice!) To me, the dream is...security. A multi-book deal means you know what's on the horizon. It means you have a horizon. Each time a contract comes to an end—unless you have multiple contracts with different publishers at the same time—what's next is up in the air. You're back in the trenches, submitting projects as proposals or full drafts and praying something will land on the right person's desk at the right moment. 

I have a few "possibles" out there now. MarcyKate and I have submitted a proposal for a second and third book in the Science & Strange series, which launches in January with The Thirteenth Circle. I'm hoping to get hired to do more books in the write-for-hire series I've been working on this year. And I do have a few more things of my own up my sleeve. (A proposal for more Class Critters books! A standalone magical middle-grade novel I've been working on for years! Another standalone magical MG idea I have to start from scratch!) 

As of writing this, I'm not feeling quite so blah. Yes, I would love to receive some immediate good news in my inbox! But when I take a step back and look at that list of "possibles," I actually feel quite encouraged. When I started writing fiction seriously, I was a "one book at a time" writer. Maybe I could start brainstorming something new while revising my current project. In general, though, I worked very linearly. 

Now, at any given point, I've got a lot of irons in the fire. Writing books of different lengths has helped. So has coauthoring. And I'm able to alternate projects I've been working on for years with books I must write from start to finish in a span of months. Some things are quickly pushed off my plate; others continue to simmer on the stove. 

All of that means that while what's next might not turn out to be exactly what I'd envisioned...there's more where that came from. More ideas, more works-in-progress, more things I'm willing to try while I wait. 

How do you battle the blahs in your personal or professional life? 

~Kathryn 

What I'm: 

Reading: I read a thriller this week: Andrea Bartz's We Were Never Here, about two friends who travel together...and end up covering up murders (in self-defense, ostensibly) together. It's been a while since I read an adult thriller, and I've added a few more to my library holds list. Now, I'm listening to Ali Hazelwood's Love, Theoretically, the latest in Hazelwood's series of STEM-focused romance novels. 

Watching: Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 3 finally came to Disney+, and I really enjoyed it! But be warned: it does have a lot of flashback scenes of animal abuse (the main plot relates to how Rocket Raccoon ended up the way he is). It's fun and zany, but also about grief and trauma, and I teared up as much as I laughed. Did you like this latest Marvel installment? 

Loving: My summer reading challenge!

Setting Goals, Seeking Accountability

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on July 28th, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

"How are you writing so fast?!" a friend DMed me on Instagram yesterday, in response to one of my daily word count updates. 

I wrote back with a quick explanation: my four-weeks-of-camp timeline, my 10-page chapter-by-chapter outline, my rule that I have to finish my chapter each day before I do anything else (including shower). But really, I wanted to say, "Thank you." 

Every message I get, whether congratulating me for getting my daily words on the page or asking how I'm doing it, keeps me going. That's one of the reasons I've been sharing my word count tracker online for the past three weeks (and will continue to do so next week). At this point, if I miss a day, I think people will notice. 

I have a professional deadline for this project: August 30th. But I've written in my newsletter before about the difference between the "zero-draft," i.e. the very first thing I write, and the "first draft" that I send to my editor or agent. I don't want my publishing team to read the earliest set of words that I basically splat onto my screen. Thus, I have to bake in some time for revisions. This year, the timing happened to work out perfectly: I have this four-week stretch of summer camp to hammer out words, and then three and a half weeks (only one of which is a camp week) before the actual deadline, to polish everything up. 

Perfect timing notwithstanding, I would consider this fast-drafting. I don't usually push myself to get down approximately 2,000 words a day, every single (week)day. When I was writing the Class Critters books, I didn't have to; those books are shorter, and the challenge was to get each chapter to do its job in the fewest possible words (around 500-700). When I was writing my longer YA novels, meanwhile, the deadlines weren't this tight. Plus, I drafted my debut long before working with a publisher. In a nutshell, this particular drafting situation—35,000-40,000 words in under eight weeks—is new to me. 

And...I don't hate it. 

I am someone who thrives under (reasonable) pressure. If I don't have an external deadline, I often give myself one. I like making plans and sticking to them. So, this idea of writing a chapter a day for twenty days naturally appealed to me. I knew what I had to accomplish from the get-go, and I am making it happen.

Why share online each day? Accountability. Like I said earlier, if I miss a day at this point, there are people in my life who would notice. I've put my intentions out into the world. Now, I have to follow through. 

But every book is different, just as every season of life is different. What's working for me this summer might not work at another time of year. I might have more on my plate. Or another book might not lend itself to the kind of outlining that has facilitated my drafting process this time. And of course, with my coauthored projects, I have to factor in another person's schedule and preferences. 

I'm trying to enjoy this productive flow I'm in. I've written 28,607 words in 14 days (as of yesterday), and I have six chapters to go (one today and five next week). Then my schedule changes again: I'll be working while also running "mommy camp" for a week and a half, followed by traveling with my daughter and doing a school visit in my hometown.   

When the stars align, as they did with this twenty chapters in twenty days marathon I'm in now—and when the writing flows, as it has been—this work is so satisfying. But it's also satisfying to find time to do a small, meaningful revision in an otherwise busy day. It's satisfying to add 2,000 words to a growing document, and it's satisfying to delete a scene that isn't serving any purpose, or to replace that long scene with a single, perfect sentence. 

I enjoy what I do, and I'm happy to have the time to do it.

I'm thankful for summer camp. 

And as I enter the home stretch of getting this zero-draft written, please hold me accountable. ;) 

~Kathryn 

What I'm: 

Reading: I just reread Emily Henry's Beach Read, and, serendipitously, her newest book, Happy Place, just landed in my library queue. So, that is what I will be happily reading this weekend. Happy Place is a second-chance romance about a couple that broke up five months ago after an eight-year relationship, only to be thrust back together by their friends at an intimate cottage gathering on the Maine coast.  

Watching: So much "Star Trek." The second season of "Strange New Worlds" is really fun! And with the way streaming services work these days, we have to watch everything of interest to us to on Paramount+ before canceling it again, which means rewatching some of the "Trek" movies... 

Loving: My daughter's summer camp is science-themed, and it has really captured her imagination. I love that she enjoys the experiments, but also gets into the pretending aspect of it—for instance, the week they learned about detective science, she was basically a sleuth 24/7. Her big imagination is one of my favorite things about this age! 

(Here's a new Little Free Library near her camp. Isn't this the cutest?)

My Mini Summer Writing Bootcamp

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on July 14th, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

If you follow me on any of my social platforms, you probably know that I am drafting a new book this summer. It's the second book in my write-for-hire contract, the sequel to the first. (I know you're curious about this project—I really, really hope to be able to share more details soon!) Because I'm working with a relatively tight deadline, and because my kiddo is in summer camp for four straight weeks, I've decided to turn the work of drafting into a mini bootcamp for myself. 

I have never attempted NaNoWriMo. (That's National Novel Writing Month, for those who aren't familiar—each November, millions of writers attempt to complete a novel, or at least 50,000 words of one, in a month.) I haven't abstained from NaNoWriMo because I'm opposed to the idea. Not at all! I've just never found myself ready to write 50,000 new words when November rolls around. I'm either deep in revisions on something, or drafting something shorter (like the Critters books). Maybe one day I will give it a shot! 

But this summer, I'm attempting something close. This new book needs to be between 35-40,000 words. My daughter is in camp for four weeks. By her last day of camp, I want to have a complete zero-draft. (Then, I will have about three weeks to polish up that draft before my August deadline.) 

So, how does one write an entire book in a month? 

The same way you eat an elephant: one bite at a time. 

My outline for this book has 20 chapters. My kiddo has 20 days of camp. That equals a chapter a day. How long must each chapter be? 35,000 / 20 = 1,750. I've set myself a goal of writing at least 1,500 words a day, knowing that most chapters will be closer to 2,000. (In the first four days, my word count total was 7,988, so I am slightly ahead of schedule overall. Woohoo!) 

Now, maybe you're someone who looks at this strategy and shudders. Maybe the idea of breaking a book down into bite-sized chunks doesn't mesh with your writing vibe at all. I have to say, I've written books where this strategy wouldn't have worked at all. Books where I was finding my way as I wrote, or focusing for an hour on a single paragraph because I couldn't move on until it was just right. But for this particular project, having a daily goal and a clear finish line within view has been invaluable. 

I have a deadline and a plan. I enjoy a sense of accomplishment each morning, as I cross off "write a chapter" from my to-do list. I can see my document growing, thanks to the handy-dandy progress bar in Scrivener. I feel confident, and sometimes confidence is the best feeling you can experience when you're working on something completely new. (Also, for me, it's my first time writing a true sequel; the Critters books were each about a different character. So the confidence-boost of getting words on the page is balancing out my uncertainty about crafting a sequel that's as compelling as the first book!) 

I wouldn't be able to work like this without my incredibly detailed outline. When I sit down each morning, I have the chapter's synopsis ready to guide me forward. And yes, things do change from outline to draft. But I have a road map. If I follow it, I'll get to my destination. 

Today is the end of Week One. After today's writing session, I should have approximately one-fourth of a book. That's definitely something! 

And with each day that passes, my momentum grows. I'm more in the story. More invested in the characters. Hopefully, by the time I get to "The End" and circle back to page one to start revising, I'll be so in the zone that I'll know exactly what I need to do. 

There's a quote writers often share: "I hate writing, but I love having written."

To be honest, I love both. Not all the time, but certainly right now. I'm enjoying the process, and I'm looking forward to the outcome of having a finished draft to revise. It may feel a bit like bootcamp, but it also feels like home. 

Are you pushing yourself to work on anything big this summer? 

~Kathryn 

What I'm: 

Reading: I'm currently crossing off the "historical novel set before the 20th century" box on my BookBub Reading Challenge grid! The most recent Newbery Award winner, Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson, is about two children who escape from a plantation and find a new home in a free Black community hidden deep in a swamp. Freewater is home to other formerly enslaved people as well as a group of children who were born there—children who have never known enslavement. This book is lyrically written and lovingly depicts—from many different points of view—a part of history I haven't read about before in children's literature, the free Black (also known as maroon) communities in the south in the 1800s.  

Watching: My husband and I finished "Picard" season 3 this week. I grew up watching "Star Trek: The Next Generation" with my dad, and it was a pleasure to spend more time with the crew of the Enterprise-D in this new series. (If you're a Trekkie, it's on Paramount+!) 

Loving: I took this photo of my kiddo last week, and I still think it may be one of the best pictures I've ever captured. It looks like she's surrounded by magic. 

What Milestones Make You Look Back and Reflect?


This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on June 23rd, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

Few things make you more aware of the unrelenting passage of time than your child having a birthday. 

My daughter just turned six. Six!!

Typing that, my mind scurries down a rabbit hole: Didn't she just turn five? And four? And three? Where's that video of her dancing, the day she turned two? Remember when she was a toddler? Six years ago, I was in the hospital with a newborn! Wow, remember not being a mom? When my first book came out, parenthood was still over two years away! And back, and back, and back it goes. 

I'm not this way about my own birthday. Other big milestones don't send me skittering through time like this. But becoming a parent is cataclysmic. It puts everything else into perspective and forever separates your life into "before" and "after." 

There's another element to my current nostalgia trip: last year at this exact time, my daughter and husband both had Covid. Everything in our life screeched to a halt. She was in quarantine on her birthday. Her party was postponed. She missed her dance recital and her PreK graduation and the entire last week of school. I think I'm still processing 2022's massive disappointment-bomb, because this year, I've been knotted with anxiety since the start of June. I've been bracing for everything to go wrong, like it did last year. Each time we passed a big moment without it getting canceled—her dance recital, her kindergarten stepping-up ceremony, her birthday party, her actual birthday—I felt a little lighter. I could breathe a little easier. 

So here we are. We made it. 

(Knock on wood...) 

I'm not generally a "glass half-empty" person. I don't usually expect the worst. I don't send manuscripts to my agent or editor anticipating that they'll hate them. I don't pour my heart into my work while also being certain no one will ever read it. I look for the best. I hope.

And no, things don't always work out the way I want them to. Sometimes, my books don't sell. Sometimes, readers don't like them. 

Sometimes isn't all the time. 

Last year, my daughter was sick and in quarantine on her birthday. This year, she wasn't. This year, every plan went off without a hitch. 

Sometimes isn't all the time. 

I've noticed a theme in my newsletters, over the past couple weeks. I've written several times about something being hard, and then remembering to trust myself and my experience. I've reminded myself that I know what I'm doing. That things being hard now doesn't mean they'll always be that way. 

On the topic of looking back in time, I wouldn't always have been able to give myself those reminders. Six years and a few days ago, I wasn't a parent. A decade ago, I'd never published a book. Fifteen years ago, I'd never written a whole novel. I know things now that I didn't know six or ten or fifteen years ago. I know myself now, in a way that I didn't six or ten or fifteen years ago. 

If my daughter's birthdays must make me prone to bouts of emotional time travel, I may as well reflect on what's changed for the better. 

And hopefully, next year, I won't spend June bracing for disaster. Hopefully, I can enjoy all of the celebrations the month brings. Sometimes isn't all the time, and if you get stuck in the sometimes, you might miss all of the amazingness the rest of the time can bring. 

~Kathryn

What I'm: 

Reading: I had another eye specialist follow-up, and both eyes had to be dilated for examination, so it was the perfect time to start another audiobook! I've been listening to The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren. It's a romance about a romance novel writer who teams up with a TV producer to create a reality dating show. The twist: she's the star, and he's not one of the guys she's supposed to be falling for... 

Watching: "Silo" on AppleTV+ is so great, and you should all be watching it. Plus, the first episode of Marvel's "Secret Invasion" dropped this week on Disney+. Summer of sci-fi, anyone? 

Baking: Last weekend's mermaid cupcakes turned out great. Check my Instagram for photos! I also made banana chocolate chip muffins for my daughter's classroom birthday celebration on Wednesday. One of her friends told me it was the best muffin he'd ever eaten in his whole life. ;) 

Loving: Baking with my kiddo. Here she is, painting strawberry mermaid tails as decorations for her cupcakes. (Give this gal something sparkly or shiny and watch her go!) 

End-of-Year Madness and Writing-as-Puzzle

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on June 16th, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

I'm writing this from the tiny lobby of my daughter's dance studio, to the sounds of her second-ever tap class. (Who knew three five-year-olds could make so much noise?) (Just kidding. I definitely understand the noise capacity of a gaggle of five-year-olds...) 

This is, admittedly, not the optimal place to be trying to focus on writing. Unfortunately, this week, I don't really have a choice. We are barreling toward the end of the school year, and I am absolutely swamped. I've got work deadlines...and elementary school concerts/ceremonies/picnics...and birthday party preparations...and family gatherings...and next week I have another eye specialist follow-up...oh, and Monday is a school holiday...

You get the picture. 

In fact, I'm sure many of you are in a similar boat! (Maybe without the child with a June birthday, but still.) 

One of the biggest things on my plate right now is writing a feature article for Dance Magazine. You may know that my first job out of college was as an editor at a group of dance magazines. I started out at Dance Teacher, then moved over to Dance Spirit. When I left that job after a few years to get my MFA in creative writing, I continued to freelance for all of the group's publications. In total, I've been writing about dance professionally for almost 20 years! 

But this article I'm working on right now is a doozy. It's about the preprofessional pipeline of trainee programs and second companies and apprenticeships that dancers travel along between being a student and becoming a paid professional. It's a great topic! The tricky thing is, after doing all of my interviews, I have too much information.

Magazine articles are relatively short; in this case, for a feature, I've been given a maximum of 1,500 words. I've drafted maybe two-thirds of what I want to say, and I've already surpassed 1,500 words. 

I described this process to my husband as this: 

Imagine being given a box with 1,000 puzzle pieces. From those 1,000 pieces, you have to complete a 100-piece puzzle. It should be a picture of a horse, but you aren't given an exact image to work from. Instead, the box is full of bits of horses...and also some zebras, and also some cows. So you start assembling pieces as best you can, and slowly, so slowly, the picture starts to turn into something. It starts to become a horse. 

My article is due on Tuesday. Right now, it's a mess. 

My horse has way too many legs. At least one of them is actually from a zebra. 

But by Tuesday, it will come together. 

That's one thing I've learned from doing this for so many years. I have the skill and the experience that I need. I know that some articles will be a breeze and others will give me a bit of grief. They'll all get done. 

I try to keep that in mind whenever I'm working on something that isn't cooperating. I've been here before. I know what I'm doing. Whether it's a short article or a full-length novel, I have what it takes. I just have to keep at it. 

How do you motivate yourself when a project isn't going smoothly? 

~Kathryn

What I'm: 

Reading: The Good Left Undone by Adriana Trigiani. This is a family epic set in Italy, ranging from pre-World War II to present-day. It's about big loves and family secrets and the differences and similarities between generations. I'm enjoying it!  

Watching: "The Other Two," a sitcom about the two older siblings of a child star. It's really funny! 

Baking: My daughter's sixth birthday party is tomorrow, and this afternoon's project is baking So. Many. Mermaid. Cupcakes.

Loving: Kindergarten stepping-up was this week! I can't believe I almost have a first-grader. Every day, my daughter brings home a wad of papers in her backpack, and at least one of them says, in wild, mismatched printing, "I love Mom and Dad." My heart is full. 

How I Learned to Love a Good Outline

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on June 2nd, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

Earlier this week, I had a call with the team for the write-for-hire book series I'm working on this year. On our agenda: brainstorm ideas for the second book. 

I'm happy to say I came to that meeting with loads of ideas—and left with even more. Now I'm in the process of writing a detailed chapter-by-chapter outline, which I will send to the client, my editor, and my agent by the end of next week. It's fun to be back at the idea phase. Right now, the book is filled with possibility. I'm dreaming up new characters, new interactions, new twists. I'm thinking about how to take concepts I introduced in book one to the next level, how to fulfill promises I made and raise the stakes. I'm also going back through book one and trying to find all of the seeds I planted. (For example, I referenced an upcoming school fall festival that now has to actually happen.) 

Before the last few years, I was not a big outliner. For some projects, I still probably won't be. But in certain contexts—like writing-for-hire—I have found it to be so, so helpful. Once this detailed outline is approved, I'll paste each chapter's synopsis into my Scrivener document's notes section. Then, every day when I sit down to write the zero-draft, I will know exactly what I need to do. Of course, things can diverge from the outline. With book one, I added two chapters when I realized I was missing a few story beats, and I rearranged a bunch of other plot elements that weren't in quite the right order. But in terms of getting words on the blank page, it's tremendously useful to have a plan. 

MarcyKate and I also worked with an outline in order to write The Thirteenth Circle, though what we started with was a lot less detailed than what I'm doing now. In the case of a coauthored book, having an outline up front allowed us each to work separately without accidentally steering the train off the track. We had mile markers we had to reach. Landmarks on the horizon. That said, there was plenty of room to play—and to surprise each other with unexpected twists and cliffhangers. 

Writers like to talk about being either plotters or pantsers (i.e. writing by the seat of one's pants). I've always considered myself somewhere in the middle of that spectrum: a "plantser." I generally like to write toward signposts, but not to have so much planned out up front that it takes away the joy of discovering new ideas and characters as I go along. Knowing a few key scenes that have to be in the story also helps me avoid writer's block: if I'm stuck at a certain point, I can jump ahead to the next big moment I am certain of, and then work backward to fill in the gap.

This write-for-hire series is the most heavily I've ever outlined before beginning to write. But every manuscript is different, and writing a book as a contractor is different from having complete creative control over my own vision. I don't necessarily have time to noodle around in discovery mode until I find the perfect plot point. I have to figure out as much as I can in advance, get the go-ahead from the other members of the team, and trust that my instincts as a writer will get me the rest of the way. 

I've been seriously writing fiction for over a dozen years now, and one of the ways I keep myself sharp and fresh is by trying new things. Sometimes, that means writing in a new genre or for a new age group. Other times, it means changing up my process. Writing-for-hire has been a big change of process—in a good way. I've added new skills to my toolbox. I'm continuing to learn and to grow. It's also valuable to try something and discover it's not for me! Everything is a step forward, even if it doesn't feel like it at the time. 

So back to my chapter-by-chapter outline. My outline for book one ended up being about ten pages, 1.5 spaced. (I prefer 1.5 over single or double. *insert shrugging emoji here*) I'm aiming for about the same length for book two, both because I found that level of detail to be useful to me in drafting book one and because I want to give my client and my editor a similar amount of plot to consider this time around. The more they're on board from the start, the less I'll have to rewrite down the line. 

It's all a process. A journey. 

And it's due next week, so it's time for me to sign off here and get back to it! 

~Kathryn 

What I'm: 

Reading: Two amazing sci-fi-ish middle-grade novels: Tae Keller's Jennifer Chan is Not Alone, about an alien-loving girl who disappears and the girl who may have bullied her into running away, and Lee Bacon's The Last Human, about a future when robots have eradicated humans...or so they all think, until a friendly bot meets a 12-year-old girl who has somehow survived. As I gear up for the January release of The Thirteenth Circle, I want to read more middle-grade sci-fi. Any recommendations for me? 

Watching: We started "American Born Chinese" on Disney+ and it's great so far! Based on a graphic novel that was a finalist for the National Book Award, this series is a mash-up of Chinese mythology and realistic teen drama, and it's so fun. 

Enjoying: Long neighborhood walks in the springtime sunshine. 

Loving: It's officially beach season! People don't think of NYC as having good beaches, but there are a few, and we made our first trip out to soak up some sun over Memorial Day Weekend. Here's my excited mermaid girl striking a pose. 

Are You a Professional Juggler?

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on May 26th, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

I've had what I call a "shallow" work-week.

These are the weeks that include a million small tasks pertaining to a million different projects. (Okay, a million might be exaggerating, but sometimes it feels like that...) I started brainstorming for the second book in my write-for-hire contract. I prepped for and did a school visit, my last of the year. I worked on designing some new Class Critters bookmarks. I'm putting the finishing touches on one freelance dance article while trying to schedule interviews for another two that are due in June. Scheduling interviews mostly means sending lots of emails. I also sent emails about soliciting promotional blurbs for The Thirteenth Circle. And I sent emails about an upcoming author visit (not me! someone else) at my daughter's elementary school. And I ordered and picked up the classroom books for that author visit. Oh, and I booked an extra week of summer camp for my daughter. 

There's more. But you get the idea. 

In a "shallow" week, I dip my toes into a million puddles. 

I vastly prefer "deep" work-weeks.

Immersing myself in one enormous task (or maybe two) is so much more satisfying. The work may be harder, but it's also more engrossing. Tasks like writing 10,000 new words in a zero-draft or finishing line edits on an entire book yield a greater sense of triumph than sending 100 (necessary!) emails. 

But it's all part of the process. It all matters. And to be honest, it's easier when I can divide my weeks into one or the other. I've had periods of time where I'm both puddle-jumping and scuba-diving, and that's when things really start to spin out of control. My brain likes to pick a style and stick to it for at least a couple days. 

In Madison Morris is NOT a Mouse!, Madison spends a chapter listing her strengths and weaknesses. One of my strengths—like Madison—is that I am organized. But I'm also a working parent, a freelancer with multiple gigs, and like most of us, I am TIRED. That's why, on a week like the one I've just had, I like to come back to an analogy I read and love: 

Romance author Nora Roberts was once asked at a Q&A session for tips on balancing writing and kids. Her answer was that some of the balls you have in the air are plastic, and some of them are glass. You have to know which is which. If you're juggling and you drop a glass ball, it will shatter. That's potentially disastrous. But if you drop a plastic ball, it will bounce. You can pick it up again later. Roberts went on to add that you can't divide balls up strictly by category: some work balls will be plastic and others will be glass, and the same with family matters, and on and on. Sometimes, you'll have to choose to drop a plastic ball in order to catch a glass one—and that's okay.

For me, a "deep" week might mean I'm juggling two or three glass balls, whereas a "shallow" week might involve a dozen plastic ones. Plastic balls are easier to juggle in bulk. They're lighter and less fragile. Juggling glass balls requires concentration and care. 

Are you a professional juggler? Do you prefer to work on one or two "deep" tasks or cross off a million "shallow" to-dos? What's the most important glass ball in your juggling act right now? 

~Kathryn

What I'm: 

Reading: More of the historical romances I mentioned last week (why is it that library holds always all arrive at the same time?!), plus Once & Future, a YA sci-fi retelling of Arthurian legend set in space.  

Watching: Only one episode of "Ted Lasso" to go... Season 3 has been a bit rocky, but can they stick the landing? 

Baking: This is a cheat, because I haven't done it yet, but I am pumped to make my mom's classic cake mix chocolate chip cookie recipe for a Memorial Day BBQ on Monday! I love watching someone try one of these cookies for the first time. 

Loving: My daughter had her first dance recital last weekend, and let's just say, the stage presence is definitely there.

Do Authors Ever Reread Their Own Books?

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on May 19th, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

Last week, a friend messaged me that she was reading How It Feels to Fly. I was positively thrilled to hear it! My second published book holds a very special place in my heart, and it never really found a wide audience. As this friend was reading, she updated me a few times on where she was in the story. And as I read her updates, I got the strangest urge: 

I kind of wanted to reread my own book. 

I haven't read How it Feels to Fly, in full, since probably 2015. That would have been when I did my final proofreading pass before the book was sent to print. I read excerpts of it, sure—at readings and signings, or when I needed to double-check how I'd written something to talk about the story for promotional purposes—but I never reread the entire book. 

Each book in an author's career is a snapshot of the moment in time in which it was written. I have grown and changed a lot over the past decade, and there are things I would do differently if I wrote either The Distance Between Lost and Found or How It Feels to Fly today. I'm a better writer, for starters. I approach my craft with even more care. But also, my mindset on some topics has evolved. And the world is a different place. And the publishing industry has changed. 

Looking back—rereading something that's technically finished but could be better—can honestly be a bit frustrating.

On top of that, in the case of a book that "underperformed" (which How It Feels to Fly did, per my publisher), there's an ever-present wonder: could I have written a more marketable version of this idea? Hindsight is 20/20—and hindsight loves to tell me that, if I'd done a few things differently, I might have had the YA ballet book of the mid-2010s that got turned into a Netflix series. (Shout-out to Tiny Pretty Things!)

For all of those reasons (and probably others I haven't thought of), most authors I know don't often reread their work, once it's been published. 

The Class Critters books have been an exception to this rule, because I've been reading them to my daughter. Do I think what got printed is perfect? No. There are sentences I stumble over and wish I could rewrite. Plot points I could sharpen. But overall, I am happy with the finished product. I'm proud of those books, even upon rereading.  

Would I feel the same about How It Feels to Fly, were I to give in to my urge to reread it now? I sure hope so. 

(Sidebar: yes, sometimes older books can be edited and reissued. That's not going to happen for me and my books...unless I become wildly famous sometime in the next few years! So, um, get on that, fans... ;) 

Even as we promote our published work, authors have to keep looking forward. We have to keep chasing the next opportunity. The next title our readers will fall in love with. The next potential bestseller. The next story that will consume us until we've made it exist, wrenching it from nothing onto a printed page.  

The biggest piece of advice on what to do while you're waiting for one book to publish (or even to be considered for publication) is always "Write the next book." Look forward, not back. 

But I still feel that urge to reread How It Feels to Fly. I'm pretty far removed from the early days of my career, when that book's "underperformance" felt like the end of everything. And it might be interesting to revisit that version of myself, that particular snapshot in time (which is itself a snapshot, in many ways, of my teenage years). And maybe, sometimes, it's useful to remind yourself of how you've grown. How far you've come. 

If you're an author, do you ever go back and reread your early books? If you're a creator, do you like to revisit past projects? Or do you keep your eyes forward?

~Kathryn 

What I'm: 

Reading: A few historical romance novels that appeared in my library queue all at once, after being on hold for many weeks! 

Watching: My husband and I have started "Silo" on AppleTV+. It's a sci-fi story with humans living in an enormous bunker, unable to go outside...or can they? Are they being kept in the silo for a reason? I haven't read the books the series is based on, so I can't speak to it as an adaptation, but two episodes in I am pretty intrigued by the story and the mystery. 

Loving: Spending a chill Mother's Day with my kiddo and husband. Brunch and playground for the win!

When the Book Tells You What It's Meant to Be

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on May 12th, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

It's been almost exactly ten years since I received an offer from HarperCollins to publish my debut novel. (A journey into my email archives revealed that the actual offer came in on May 22nd, 2013!) 

I've been thinking a lot lately about the experience of writing the book that became The Distance Between Lost and Found. 

I wrote the first draft of Distance over a feverish few months during which I simply couldn't bear to stop working on it. (As an example, I had a dance performance during this period of time...and I brought my printed-out manuscript backstage! Every moment that weekend that I wasn't performing, I was editing. That's how invested I was.) I felt like the book already knew what it was meant to be, and I was just trying to get it there. 

The book was speaking to me. It was my job to listen. 

It's been a while since I felt like that. 

For one thing, writing pre-publication is different than writing post-publication (or even post-book-deal while still pre-publication). I wrote Distance with no deadline, aside from my self-imposed ones. I had friends read it to offer feedback, but until I landed my agent, I wasn't getting professional-level criticism. That's not to say my friends' opinions weren't valid, or that each person who read that manuscript wasn't an amazingly talented writer in their own right! But sending something to an editor or agent just feels different than sending it to a trusted friend. 

How it Feels to Fly sold in 2014, as my option book for the first deal. (The option clause basically means the publisher wants the first look at what an author writes next.) I knew from the start I wanted to pitch a novel about ballet and body image and anxiety, but the process of getting from idea to finished product wasn't at all like it had been for Distance. This book didn't know what it wanted to be. I began by writing 50 pages about a girl in her dance studio. My agent weighed in and, in the end, we agreed that the pages weren't working. I went back to the drawing board. I came up with the summer camp angle; the stuff I'd written before was backstory. That worked better, but it still wasn't clicking. At one point, my agent suggested I try writing "Girl, Interrupted" meets "Center Stage"—aiming for dark comedy.  

We discovered, together, that dark comedy isn't really my sweet spot. 

All of this exploration was happening between revising drafts of Distance with my editor, and with a tentative deadline: my agent wanted to try to sell book two before book one came out. Getting book two right felt high-stakes in a way that writing the first book hadn't. I was in the big leagues now.

I love what Fly became, but it was hard work getting it there. 

I could spin off here to talk about the years that followed Fly's publication, when I couldn't sell anything. The frantic, desperate time when I thought my career as an author was over. Desperation is not the best creative mindset. 

But the point of this walk down memory lane is simply that writing, now that I'm a published author, feels different than it used to.

Back in 2012, when I was feverishly working on Distance, it felt like magic. An idea I'd been holding close and safe in my mind suddenly rushed out onto the page. These days, there are so many other voices in my head. I have a publishing team, and readers, and sales numbers, and reviews, and, and, and...it's hard to recapture that magic, where it's just me and the story. 

But maybe I'm getting close. 

This week, I created a brainstorm document for a new idea. It's the idea I mentioned last week—the merging of a topic I'd wanted to write about for ages with a magical element I came up with in MarcyKate's SCBWI workshop. I quickly typed up two single-spaced pages of notes—fragments of scenes, vivid images, personal memories, possibilities. 

It felt almost—almost—like when the plot structure and characters and voice and imagery of Distance clicked together in my mind. A rush of inspiration. The right book at the right moment. 

Magic. 

Will I have time to write this book? When?! 

Who knows? 

But judging by the way I felt when I was brainstorming a few days ago, I will write it. It's a book that knows what it wants to be—already—at last. 

Last week, I quoted from Christopher Denise's keynote speech at the NESCBWI conference: 

"The book will tell you what to do, if you make space for it."

This new book has begun to tell me what to do. And I might have to tell it to be patient, to wait its turn...but when I have space, I intend to listen. 

~Kathryn 

What I'm: 

Reading: Thanks to a viral tweet, I finally got around to reading (well, listening to) This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. I've had this dual-POV sci-fi story on my list for a while now, and I'm really enjoying listening to it so far! (Also, a viral tweet sending a book that's several years old rushing to the top of the bestseller list...it's every author's dream!) 

Watching: Season two of Netflix's "Sweet-Tooth." This sweet, sad, and occasionally harrowing sci-fi show is really something. I'm so glad it's already been renewed for season three.

Loving: Last weekend, I got to do a storytime at our local community garden. None of my Class Critters books had in-person bookstore launches (thanks, Covid...), and so my daughter hasn't been able to see me do many proper author events. It was so fun to read to her and her friends, and the moment when I introduced myself and she proudly announced, "That's my mom!" will be a forever-memory. 

On Zero-Drafts and Finding Myself Through the Mess

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on March 17th, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

I recently finished the "zero-draft" of the write-for-hire project I've been working on for the past few months. To my surprise and delight, it ended up right at the assigned word count (between 35-40,000 words). Thanks to my very detailed outline/synopsis, I had a solid sense of what I needed to write, but there was no guarantee that it would take the correct amount of words to get it all on the page. Typing "The End" at just over 38K felt so satisfying, like my authorly instincts were on point. 

Of course, this was just a zero-draft. What do I mean by that? 

When you're writing a book under contract, you'll have a due date for the first draft. This will be the first time your editor (and others on the team—in this case, the client) reads the whole book. But ideally, the draft you turn in isn't the very first draft you finish writing. Thus: zero-draft. 

A zero-draft can be full of plot holes. It can have notes in the margins, like, "Rewrite this interaction later" and "What day of the week is it, again?" The writing isn't necessarily polished, or even grammatically correct. Writing a zero-draft is about sketching out the story, start to finish. A zero-draft isn't mean to be read (by your editor or, really, anyone other than you). It's meant to exist, because you can't edit a blank page. 

So, as I said, earlier this week I finished my zero-draft. Not counting the three chapters I'd already written as part of my audition for the project, and then polished up for the "proof of concept" proposal, it took me a little under five weeks to complete. (I am immensely proud of that pace, by the way, considering I've been dealing with a retinal detachment in my left eye!) Now, I'm fixing things. Editing for continuity. Fleshing out two-dimensional characters. Adding connective threads between scenes and chapters. This is the fun part of writing a book: when you can see, with every change you make, that it is becoming better. 

A friend recently expressed astonishment that I have been able to work through this whole retinal detachment situation. I'll admit, it hasn't been easy, especially right after the repair procedures were done, but...being able to work through this has saved me. Meeting—exceeding—my word count goals each day gave me both a sense of purpose and a creative outlet, when the only other thing I could do was nap on the couch. (Believe it or not, one can only take so many midday naps!) Knowing that I'm going to hit my deadline at the end of this month, despite everything—and that I'm going to send in something I feel good about—is incredibly gratifying.  

I'm a person who prefers to keep busy. In general, I like for my days to have a purpose and a plan. And I enjoy writing. It makes me happy. 

I also enjoy vacations—and trust me, it felt absolutely magical to be at Disney World without my laptop for an entire workweek. 

But I'd been looking forward to getting back to work when we returned from Florida, and having to have emergency eye surgery really threw me for a loop. During those first few days post-procedure, I clung to the hour or so each morning that I could spend writing. During those hours, I felt like me. 

It reminded me of when, less than a year postpartum, I was invited to join rehearsals for a dance performance that was being put on by two of my longtime contemporary teachers/choreographers. Even in my first rehearsal with the group, my new-mom body still strange in constantly-shifting ways, I felt like me. As rehearsals went on, it was like stepping back into myself, over and over and over.  

Sitting down at my computer each morning, the past few weeks, has been another kind of stepping back into myself. And yes, I have earned a break after this. Yes, I plan to get a massage (when my eye doctor gives me the okay). Yes, I may take extra dance and yoga classes this spring to make up for these long, sedentary weeks at home. But I don't want to ever stop writing. I can't stop creating, dreaming, building. It's just not who I am.

~Kathryn  

What I'm: 

Reading: Due to my eye situation, I’ve started listening to audiobooks! I finished the audiobook of The Likeness (an Irish murder mystery) and also listened to a short rom-com called Love at First Psych, about two college students paired together for a project on love at first sight for their psychology class. It was cute! 

Watching: We rewatched "The Mandalorian" and are now caught up on season 3. I also can't wait to start season 2 of "Shadow and Bone" on Netflix. The first season of that one was so good! 

Cooking (sort of...): My daughter had green oatmeal and green milk this morning for breakfast, and she was absolutely certain the food coloring made it all taste especially green. 

Loving: Speaking of St. Patrick's Day, apparently my kiddo's teacher read a book about leprechauns yesterday, which inspired her to create her own leprechaun trap. (She was convinced one was going to sneak into her room overnight and steal her pot of gold! Aka her piggie bank...) Here's her chalk diagram of the trap, including disgruntled leprechaun. The pot of gold at the far left is the bait.  

Is Imposter Syndrome Just Part of the Process?

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on December 9th, 2022. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

Recently, I posted a slightly vulnerable Instagram caption about experiencing imposter syndrome. I'd spent the past couple days trying to draft out a virtual writing workshop I will be leading (Writing Fun and Feelings in Chapter Books) in January for the Metro NY chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators. I'd brainstormed pages and pages of ideas and tips and recommendations, but it wasn't coming together as a workshop. It didn't flow.

I was floundering. 

Meanwhile, I'd just seen a post in a chapter book writers Facebook group I'm a member of alerting people to this upcoming workshop. "Anyone going to this?" the poster asked. "It sounds great!" 

The workshop did sound great—based on the synopsis I'd pitched months ago. (Yes, I pitched this workshop! All of the stress I've felt about it is completely my own fault!) But as of last Friday, I simply couldn't make it work. That's where the imposter syndrome slithered in. A useful topic idea, sure to be informative and engaging...but what makes you think you're the right person to teach it? 

I hit a wall. I closed the document on my computer. I didn't look at it over the weekend, or during my workday on Monday. And then, on Tuesday (admittedly after a bit of nervous procrastinating), I opened up a new presentation on Google Slides. I started trying to find the bullet points in the mess of brainstorming I'd done last week. I looked for themes and highlights. Big-picture advice, and then the more granular tips and specific examples and personal anecdotes that would fit under each umbrella. 

By Wednesday, I had an outline—which meant I had a workshop. 

I still have a lot more to do, of course. Now that I know the basic structure of my talk, I need to script out what I want to say for each slide and bullet point. And then I need to loop in my Class Critters editor; the workshop will be a conversation between the two of us, albeit with me taking the lead. I'm sure she'll have some points I haven't thought of. And then...I have to practice the thing, so I'm not looking at notes the whole workshop! 

But right now, a week after feeling like there was no way I could do this—I know I can. I just have to make it happen. 

Why share this process? Because it is not at all uncommon, in my writing career as well as for just about every writer (and creator) that I know. 

Every single time I revise a novel—and my husband will attest to this!—there is a point where I throw my hands in the air and shout, "I broke the book!" It is officially too much of a mess to clean up. Too difficult of a puzzle to solve. 

Until, eventually, I figure it out. 

This happens with my freelance writing too. My dance articles, for instance: some of them practically write themselves (I've been doing this for 15 years, after all). But then, every once in a while, I encounter a story that just will...not...come...together. The interviews were productive. I know my subject matter. But it won't turn into a cohesive, concise story. 

Until, eventually, I figure it out. 

Why would crafting a writing workshop be any different? 

And yet, in that moment of crisis, I'm always certain that this will be the one I can't figure out. This will be the deadline I miss, or the piece of writing that gets rejected—or the workshop that flops. So I'm documenting my latest dive into imposter syndrome here, as a reminder to myself the next time I'm in the weeds: I do know what I'm doing. I've been here before, and I've found my way through to the other side. 

~Kathryn

What I'm: 

Reading: I finally got around to reading The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton, after having it on my list for months—and it did not disappoint! Dhonielle has written a vibrant new take on the magical school genre. Ella Durand is the first Conjuror child allowed to attend the Arcanum Institute for Marvellers. As she's trying to prove that her magic is every bit as valid as theirs—that she fits in and belongs at the Institute—a mystery unfolds involving a criminal from decades ago escaping from prison. With whimsical writing, an evocative and fully fleshed-out world, and diverse characters, this series is definitely going to be a new kidlit classic. 

Watching: "Wednesday" on Netflix. There were a few plot holes, and the dark tone was pretty different than past "kooky" entries in the Addams Family canon, but overall, we liked it! 

Listening to: Did you know there is a Hanukkah rip-off/parody of "Shake it Off"? I found this when my daughter wanted to listen to Hanukkah music the other night. Here it is. You're welcome.  

Loving: This picture of "Santu," as lovingly depicted by my 5-year-old.  

The Momentum of Revision

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on November 11th, 2022. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

Do you remember, a few weeks ago, when I mentioned diving back into an old manuscript with fresh eyes and a fresh sense of purpose? (It was in this newsletter/post...) Well, this week, I got to the end of my latest revision pass. That doesn't mean I'm done; I'm still wrestling with one of my friend's notes, in particular. But I did get all the way to the last page.

One of the best feelings in the revision process is when the momentum builds. For me, starting a round of edits—especially when I've been away from a manuscript for a while—is like wading into the ocean. The water is cold. The sand is rocky and shifts underfoot. I have to acclimate to it...and then at a certain point, I have to make the choice to fully immerse myself, which is almost always a shock.

But there's always a point where I hit my stride. Where I feel a sense of momentum. It's almost like the story is telling itself, and I'm just along for the ride. I don't want to leave my computer. I have to get to the end.

That was me, this week, with this book.

It's a story I love: a lightly magical middle-grade with a mystery to solve, complex family history and dynamics (including parental illness), and a former friend–turned–first crush. It's about the weight of expectations and the desire to prove oneself. It's about mamas and daughters and sisters. It's also about writing fiction, and about the ways real life is inevitably messier than stories.

I've been working on this book in some form since 2015, when I started a brainstorming document about a YA mother-daughter story. It remained a YA novel until 2018, when I had a new magical MG idea. I realized one day that the magic element in the MG story solved a major issue in the YA book, and so I merged the two ideas into a new MG story. Interweaving them was difficult. It took until February 2020 to have a finished draft to send to friends for feedback.

We all know what happened in March 2020.

But eventually I did get those friends' feedback, and I did edits. And then I showed the book to my agent...and made more revisions, based on her comments. And then I showed it to another friend, who gave me more notes.

That's how it is sometimes. This book is a juggling act, but I am convinced I can find a way to keep each and every ball in the air. With every revision, the story becomes more real, more right, more true.

But back to the idea of momentum. At the start of a revision, I might spend all of my writing time for a day on half of chapter 1. Then the next day, I'll reread that first half and finish the chapter. On day three, I'll reread chapter 1 and tiptoe into chapter 2. And then on day four, I'll reread chapters 1 and 2 and poke my head into chapter 3. That whole time, I'm searching for the voice. Sensing the pacing. Reminding myself how to tell this particular story.

It's a slow build...until one day, it isn't.

There always comes a day when I don't have to look backward in order to move forward. And then there's a moment where I can't look back—I'm desperate to forge ahead. I'm on a roller-coaster heading for the final drop. I'm as much reader as writer, experiencing each twist and turn as if it didn't come out of my own imagination.

So anyway, this week, I got to this manuscript's last page. What happens next?

I do still have one more issue to tackle, as I said. This book has some interstitial chapters: family journal entries as well as some of the main character's own writings. I've tried a couple different things for these short chapters, but they still aren't doing what I want them to do. I like them, on their own...but they haven't justified their presence in the story.

I'll figure it out. And then, who knows? (Literally, who knows? I'm not sure if I am even allowed to try to sell another middle-grade novel while The Thirteenth Circle is in production—and MarcyKate and I plan to propose more books in that series!) For now, I am enjoying the rush that being in the revision zone brings. Making a manuscript better is a thrill and a joy.

It is immensely satisfying.

I hope you're experiencing the same satisfaction, whatever you've been working on this week!

~Kathryn

What I'm:

Reading: While my daughter was sick, I started Harrow the Ninth, the sequel to Gideon the Ninth. The Locked Tomb series is YA sci-fi/fantasy set in a distant future in which humanity has conquered death...but not without certain costs. Harrow picks up where Gideon left off—sort of. It also flashes back to Gideon's events, from a different point of view, and they're wrong. (Wrong enough that I questioned my memory of book 1, went to Wikipedia just to make sure, and without spoiling myself too much, saw that yes, the events have changed...) These books are fun, challenging, a bit gross, and at times harrowing (pun absolutely intended). The voice is like nothing else I've read in YA. They're not for everyone, but I am eager to read book 3...

Watching: Goodness, "Andor" continues to be amazing! This week's episode was edge-of-your-seat tense and beautifully acted. Otherwise, while kiddo was sick, my husband and I watched season 12 of "Taskmaster," the UK series where comedians and TV personalities are asked to perform a series of utterly ridiculous tasks, for points and (equally ridiculous) prizes. A lot of the seasons are on YouTube, if you need some silliness in your life!

Eating: Last Saturday (11/5) was our anniversary, and as my husband and I were stuck at home with a feverish child, plans cancelled...I ordered a whole cake via DoorDash. I highly recommend working your way through an entire chocolate cake over the course of a week!

Loving: The kiddo has lately become interested in the planets. On Wednesday, my dad called to tell me/her that Saturn was visible in the night sky, the closest it would come to Earth for years. It was a clear night, so we stepped outside to check it out! Here's my daughter making "heart-hands" at Saturn—that yellow speck visible between the tree and the building—which she immediately declared her favorite planet.

Being a Writer vs. Being an Author

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on October 7th, 2022. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

One of my professors in grad school, author and editor David Levithan, used to say that being a writer and being an author were two different hats.

Back then, circa 2008-2010 and several years before I would sell my first book, I was desperate to become an author. I saw my writing life as a clear before and after, with publication as the turning point that would, since we're using this metaphor, finally give me that new hat I'd been coveting. But David's point wasn't that before publication you are a writer, whereas after, you are an author. His point was that they are actually two different jobs.

A writer's job is to write. To dream. To create.

An author's job is, well...everything else. The author shows up to book events. The author does social media. The author writes email newsletters. (Hi! *waves*) The author creates marketing graphics. The author orders swag, like bookmarks and stickers, and hands them out to anyone who seems even a tiny bit interested. The author visits bookstores and signs books. The author emails school librarians to set up school visits. Unless you're in the context of a creative writing class or workshop, it's the author who's speaking to readers.

This year, I have been wearing my author hat a whole lot more than my writer hat. That's partially been by design: I had two new books release in 2022, and I'm trying to get my series off the ground. In general, authors these days have much more marketing work on their plate than in years past. (Thanks, social media...) Publishers highlight a few titles a season—generally those by big names, with proven track records, or else books with undeniable public appeal—and the rest of the authors are given the bare minimum. It can feel like sink or swim. That author hat I longed to wear...it's heavier than I imagined.

That doesn't mean it's all bad! Connecting with readers is the absolute best. I'm loving doing school visits for Class Critters. Visiting stores and signing books and talking to booksellers—it's so rewarding. But the work of an author is work.

And it's a different kind of work than the work of a writer.

Since MarcyKate and I turned in our latest revision of The Thirteenth Circle right before Labor Day, I've done very little creative writing. I've been focused on Class Critters promotion and then an array of freelance article deadlines. In fact, other than a few picture book manuscripts, I haven't written any new fiction this entire year. And lately, I've really, really missed it.

But last week, I took a walk with my friend Lance (check out his amazing YA books!) and we chatted about one of my middle-grade manuscripts. He'd read it back in March/April, and had offered me some tricky feedback. At the time, I'd had neither the hours in the day nor the energy to devote to fixing the problems he'd pointed out. Well, after our walk last Friday, that book was back on my radar. And a few days ago, while staring out the window...I suddenly knew how to solve the issue he'd pointed out. Seriously, I just knew.

And I immediately opened that document. And I started from page one, with Lance's notes and my solution in mind. And it felt so good.

I had on my writer hat.

Since that morning, I haven't wanted to take that hat off. (I've had to, though—re: the aforementioned freelance deadlines and Critters promo.) In fact, I'm setting a goal for myself for the remainder of the year: don't let the creative work fall by the wayside. I know we've got another Thirteenth Circle revision coming, but when I'm not doing that, I want to see if I can finish revising this other middle-grade manuscript. And then maybe, just maybe, I'll try starting something entirely new.

To bring this metaphor to a close, there has to be a place for multiple hats on my hatrack. I'm a writer and an author. (And a mom, and a wife, and a freelance journalist, and a dancer, etc.)

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to put my writer hat back on. After all, this book won't revise itself.

~Kathryn

Below: Wearing my (invisible) author hat at the Maplewood South Orange Book Festival this past Sunday! I had a wonderful time talking to young readers—and sold a lot of books!

What I'm:

Reading: Well, I officially DNFed (Did Not Finish) the book I wasn't enjoying last week. I tried for a few more days, and just couldn't keep going. (This is rare for me!) I cleansed my palate with a couple romance novels I had in my library queue. As I write this, I'm reading Yes & I Love You by Roni Loren.

Watching: "The Great British Bake-Off" is back, huzzah, but I've also been watching the junior version on Netflix. These kids are adorable and amazing! Some of them seem like genuine baking prodigies, while others might not be as polished but have a love for baking that is undeniable. Plus, the judges are so warm and kind. It's possible that I want all of the contestants to win. (Though I do have a favorite! Or, as this is British TV, a favourite??)

Loving: My street had a block party last Saturday afternoon. My daughter strolled out our front door with confidence, saying, "I'm going to get my face painted. I'm going to be a tiger." I told her I didn't know if there would be face-painting, but...sure enough, there was. She found the booth, sat down, and made her request. May all our wishes so easily come true.

Motivation Vs. Vacation

A version of this post originally appeared on the YA Buccaneers group blog. 

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I don't know about you, but I always find it difficult to feel motivated to work in mid-August. Maybe it's the heat. Maybe it's that perpetual almost-back-to-school feeling. Maybe it's everyone's beachy photos on social media. Maybe it's the fact that I'll soon be at the beach myself. 

[Note: this post is from 2016, but we will in fact be beaching again, little person in tow, in a few weeks! Just you wait for the baby swimsuit photos...sorry-not-sorry in advance. And for the record, while this summer has been a crash-course in new-parenthood, most summers I'm writing and promoting my work just as hard—if not harder!—than the rest of the year.] 

Whatever the case, there's no question that I could use a vacation. 

But here's the thing about being a writer, full-time or otherwise: it can be hard to let yourself take a vacation from the work. There's the sense of obligation—this book isn't going to write itself. There's how productive everyone else seems to be. There's the fear of missing out, of being left behind by writers who have more book deals and whose careers are progressing faster. And of course there's the guilt: if I'm not doing everything I can to help myself succeed, I'll have only myself to blame if I fail. 

Needing time off can feel like weakness. Taking a break can feel like quitting. 

So here's the reminder, for myself as much as for all of you who are in the trenches with me:

Rest is important. Vacations are important. Time spent not writing is important. 

But when should you indulge in time off? Deadlines permitting, I'd say...

1: When you finish a draft. 

After you type "The End," is your first instinct to scroll back to page one and start editing? What would happen if you saved and closed the document, instead? What if you spent the rest of the day lounging at the pool, or catching up on Netflix, or reading a book? 

Taking a few days or weeks away from a project when a draft is done isn't just good for your brain; it can also be good for the manuscript! Time off can give you the space and distance you need to assess your work more clearly. You might pick up on plot holes, character inconsistencies, and even typos that you'd miss if you dove back in without pausing to catch your breath.  

2: When you send out or turn in a draft. 

When you send a manuscript to your editor, your agent, or beta readers/critique partners, you probably aren't going to immediately start tinkering with it. But what about those other projects that have been waiting patiently for your attention? Should you shift gears right away? 

Your mileage may vary, but I've found that this is one of the best times to take a brief writing hiatus. When I sent a YA WIP off to my agent last July, I'd planned to jump right into the MG fantasy rewrite I'd been anxious about starting. But after two days of feeling paralyzed by the blank page, I realized I needed to give my brain an actual break. I told myself, You'll start the MG on Monday morning. Then I devoted some time to all of the things that can fall by the wayside during intense revision periods. I took on some additional freelance work. I cleaned the apartment. I cooked some delicious meals for myself and my husband. I took extra yoga and dance classes. 

I went a week without creative writing, and it didn't kill me. In fact, when I opened the MG document again, I felt refreshed and was able to hit the ground running. 

3: When you're hitting your head against the wall. 

I'm a firm believer in "the only way out is through." Most of the time, when I'm stuck on a chapter or scene, I'll find a way to get something down on the page. I'll jump ahead a few scenes. I'll sketch an outline that has actions but no emotions, or vice versa. But what about those times when forward progress feels completely impossible? 

This is, I think, when it's hardest to step away from the computer. The stubbornness kicks in. You don't want to let the manuscript defeat you, even if writing is like squeezing blood from a stone. 

So...make yourself take a break. Walk around the neighborhood. Do dishes. Work out. And if your head doesn't feel clearer in an hour, give yourself the rest of the day. Or a couple of days. That stumbling block will still be there when you return—and with any luck, the time off will help it look less like a mountain you can't climb and more like a stepping stone you can use to reach the next level. 

What about you? When do you find it best to take a step back from your writing? How do you find the balance between staying motivated and giving yourself permission to let go? Chime in in the comments! 

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

~Kathryn 

Friday Five: Can't-Miss Books from Kerry Kletter and Jeff Zentner

It's Friday again! It's been a pretty good week here—how've you been? 

Anyway, here's my Friday Five: 

1) I've (almost) made it to the end of the 30-Day Shred! (Today is Day 29, for those of you keeping count...) Four weeks ago, this exercise challenge seemed incredibly daunting. And I won't lie—it hasn't been easy, especially on the days when I had to get up early in order to fit a workout into my busy schedule. (Getting up early *and* working out...blech.) Anyway, I'm proud to say I haven't missed a day. :) 

2) Books: I read two incredible ones this week...and the authors happen to be each other's critique partners! (I also got to see both of them at the NYC Teen Author Festival last week, which was so much fun.)

Kerry Kletter's debut THE FIRST TIME SHE DROWNED is a lush, lyrical book about a girl who's trying to rebuild herself after a two-and-a-half-year stint in a mental institution. Upon release, Cassie heads straight to college, but unsurprisingly has a hard time adjusting to her new circumstances—never mind dealing with renewed attention from her mother, who's the one who checked her into the hospital against her will in the first place. Cassie's mother is magnetic and charming and self-absorbed and cruel, and Cassie is so tempted to fall back into her orbit, even as she remembers all of the abuse and neglect that led to her current fragile state. This is a heartbreaking and hopeful story, beautifully written and extremely hard to put down, not unlike the next book in this post...

 

Jeff Zentner's debut THE SERPENT KING was always going to be right up my alley, with its small-town Tennessee setting and its distinctly southern prose and sensibility. But man, did I love this book. It's about three misfits: Dill, the son of a disgraced Pentecostal snake-handling preacher; Lydia, who's Internet-famous for her fashion and lifestyle blog; and Travis, who's so obsessed with a Game of Thrones-esque fantasy book series he actually carries a staff. Their mutual outcast status brought them together, but it's senior year, and Lydia's planning to get as far away as she can for college—her top choice is NYU—while Dill feels his small life closing in around him. (Travis just wants to stay out of his drunk father's way.) Full disclosure: this book made me cry. But it also made my heart sing. It's sad and sweet and thoughtful and gut-wrenching and lovely. 

3) On the topic of my own writing: it was a fun week, because I got to write a lot of kissing! Spoiler: my first two books (THE DISTANCE BETWEEN LOST AND FOUND and HOW IT FEELS TO FLY) don't have much in the way of making out. This new project, on the other hand...there's a fair bit of smooching, at least in the chapters I've been working on lately. But don't worry—my characters won't remain in that happy kissing place for much longer...*evil laugh*

4) Husband and I are heading to Philadelphia tonight to celebrate his mom's birthday. It will be nice to see family, even if only for 24 hours! 

5) Ahh, NYC spring...

Friday Five: WIP Goals, Author Events, Music, and More

I think I jinxed us when I gushed about the weather last week. I just checked the 10-day forecast to discover that NYC is supposed to get SNOW on Sunday. It's 60 degrees right now (Thursday evening). Bah. 

But with that gripe out of the way, it's been a pretty cool week. Here's my Friday Five! 

1) I passed 75,000 words on my manuscript-in-progress! Given that the book was hovering around 55K when I wrote "The End" on the first draft in January, I'm pretty pleased with my forward momentum. Can I get to the end in the next month or so? How many more words do I need? Stay tuned... 

2) It's been a fantastic NYC Teen Author Festival so far! I went to an author event at the New York Public Library on Monday evening and another at Dixon Place last night, and participated in a group author visit with GED students yesterday morning. That presentation was definitely a highlight of the whole week. The students asked wonderful questions about writing and publishing and inspiration...and our favorite movie stars and films. I love interacting with readers! 

3) It hasn't all been book-stuff this week. I also managed to squeeze in my friend Kohli Calhoun's latest performance. She's a talented singer-songwriter who's releasing a new album this spring, and trust me—you will be hearing more about her from me once that comes out. For now, you can access a free EP on her website, which I linked to above. 

4) The sprained ankle is on the mend. Still a little sore, but nothing I can't handle. 

5) HOW IT FEELS TO FLY got its first trade review this week! This particular reviewing outlet, Kirkus, is notoriously snarky, so I'm relieved to have had two books make it through the Kirkus gauntlet unscathed. Here's a spoiler-free snippet of the review: 

"Holmes concentrates on demonstrating the benefits of therapy, dissecting Samantha’s emotions, and depicting her increasing strength in overcoming her traumas and her difficult relationship with her obsessive mother. The book winds up as almost a paean to clinical psychology, but it should resonate with driven readers and those with their own body issues."

Less than three months until HOW IT FEELS TO FLY hits bookshelves. Eek! That's a scary/good thing for another post... 

Did you have a good week? 

~Kathryn