I recently sent my fourth middle grade novel to my agent, and I’m really happy with how it turned out. Even if it never evolves into anything beyond a collection of pixels on my laptop, I’m amazed it exists. But now I’m in a book hole, debating which of several different writing projects to dive … More Cutting and Pasting the In-Between
The air’s getting crisp, the cicadas have fallen silent, the pumpkin spice is flowing freely. All the signs and omens point to one thing: it’s Pitch Wars season! The submission window opens soon, and I can feel the vicarious excitement all the way over here on the other side of the Pitch Wars experience. What … More Pitch Wars Advice
Prepare yourself, for our wise catguru has descended from on high (i.e., the top of the kitchen cabinets) to bestow upon us another piece of wise Catvice: It is only within the confines of a cardboard box that you will experience what it is to be truly free. Our cat Smidgen has mastered this principle.
I have trouble comprehending a lot of things in this world. But what puzzles me most–what’s more difficult for me to understand than rocket science, or calculus, or someone with a really thick Cockney accent and a mouth full of peanut butter-and-honey sandwich—is human behavior. I’ve been doing some character sketches on my work-in-progress lately, … More Advice from Cats
Yesterday was tense, as the Twitterverse watched the ill-advised, amazing ascent of one very nimble Minnesotan raccoon up the side of an office building. He was the beloved, bumbling protagonist we all are, some days, making one bad decision after the next but refusing to back down. Well, he made it all the way to … More Happy Birthday to me, from the #MPRaccoon
In the last couple years, I’ve become pessimistic about the future of humanity. Every day seems to bring something else to worry about, some new and terrible demonstration of man’s inhumanity to man. I know, I know. Even tens of thousands of years ago, people thought the world was coming to an end, and those … More How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Idea of a World Without Humans
I spent much of 2017 blissfully engrossed in a writing project, code named/acronymed WANA. Below are the first 15 of the 60 or so collages I made while writing the manuscript. I hope they make you smile. 1. Cara’s goal in life 2. Parents lounging in the hammock 3. A Knowledge Mine worker 4. Cara en … More W.A.N.A. Collages
Growing up in North Myrtle Beach, I knew a number of kids whose parents owned small businesses—beachfront motels, seafood restaurants, even miniature golf courses—and I always thought it must be neat to be part of a family business. As I got older, it occurred to me that I was kind of part of one too, … More Secret Family Recipe
By the time I reached 17 years of age, I knew everything. If you don’t believe me, you should build a time machine, go back to 1990, quiz me, and prepare to be amazed. The things knew back then include (but aren’t limited to): all the state capitals the trigonometric functions how to diagram sentences … More Losing my Mind
We attended not one, but two parties this weekend, which is not the norm for shy old me. Both were very fun, but today I’m wondering whether indulging in three ciders, two glasses of wine, and eight hours of not being a total hermit over the course of two days was enough of a shock … More The Efficient Allocation of Mental Energy Award
Maria Linn 