Fell out of sync with my schedule, not due to the holidays or travel, which I allowed for. I stopped writing forward on my current novel to attend to the rewrites on the TV pilot. Not quite done, as I ruminate on a possible ending for act 5. Needs to be pivotal, a cliffhanger packed with tension as it’s the last scene of the episode. While that’s in the back of my mind, today I will dive back into the NJ burb where I grew up and the characters that are moving me (yes characters, as this is fiction, although one is so close to the real thing it feels like razor burn-I’ll make necessary changes later). Received an email from my wonderful editor, Sangeeta Mehta. She’s in California for a visit, closer to the fires than we are. As I mentioned earlier, Sangeeta was the editor at Little, Brown who pulled me from the slush pile years ago and gave breath to my writer dreams. She’s now a freelance editor and I recommend her wholeheartedly. Her keen wisdom and insight are worth the investment-but plan ahead and contact her sooner than later to get on her schedule. Now, back to Bergen County.

1/12/25

Down with the flu last week so got very little writing done until yesterday. My in the burb book is my main focus now while in the back of my mind I ruminate over what to do about my finished novel that lands somewhere between YA and adult. Editors like a novel that lands squarely in one genre. Of course, there have been very successful novels that are the exception-To Kill a Mockingbird (which, btw, is standard reading in schools from 8th - 10th grade) and a few others. I have a few options: try to push the book along as is, self-publish, build up the adult POV and pitch it as general fiction, pull the YA POV out, which will make it a novella, and package it with another novella-like piece, which is YA, told in verse, and the two connect thematically. I’m leaning toward this last option.

12/15/24

Got edits back two weeks ago and am just about finished with those. Don’t you just love when you think you’re done and suddenly a stroke of brilliance strikes and you know it’s right but would require changes to the storyline—so about 4000 new character-building words to write unless that breathes life into another not-to-be-denied development. One more week with this manuscript before I can return to the the small Jersey burb of my current novel-in-progress.

12/7/24

Genre writing. The boxes exist so that chaos doesn’t. I get that. But it’s so limiting. I feel like, with this new novel, that a box is stuffed inside another box and with two POVs from main characters in differing generations, I am told this novel comes in at Literary Mystery. I feel like it’s more than that. I feel the literary trumps mystery and there’s a big pull for coming-of-age as well.

11/30/23

I was pulled out of the slush pile at Little, Brown by Sangeeta Mehta so many years ago. I thought I knew how lucky I am. My first book sold at auction, bid on by two of the 5 BIG houses. It was humbling and scary and exciting. I had 2 editors at LB and an editor at UK-Macmillan (Harriet Wilson). They are all wonderfully talented and easy to work with people. Recently, I reconnected with Sangeeta, who just finished editing my current, completed novel. I have a heart full of Thanksgiving!

11/23/24

Images that speak

Happy New Year. . .

Can’t Catch Me . . .

Yay.. .

Me & My Bestie. . .

I Love Cupcakes. . .

A white Christmas and research and adventure in Mammoth.

12/28/24

Winter Sunsets. . .

Honeybutter. . .

frayed

open

alluring

caught

serrated

iced

Have you decided on your goals for this year? Have at least one exciting thing you plan to do in 2025? Growth is important but so is fun and when we combine the two, we hit that sweet spot-the sublime. My drive this year is to challenge my fears (esp of heights) I started early. 1/1/25

I received this bit of good news in my email this morning. My first TV pilot, based on my novel of the same title, is moving up. It came with an analysis that had plenty of good things to say about the storyline and main characters, and a few suggestions about style and plot points. Gotta get on those.

12/21/24

in D.C. for the Springsteen concert, September 2024. Would love to see them again-Milan 2025?

12/15/24

and lavender lattes, but get neither if I don’t write at least 1000 words today.

12/7/24

are beautiful here.

11/30/24

He can sleep standing up without falling over. . .most of the time :)

11/23/24