2.15.20

“Genius is 1 Percent Inspiration and 99 Percent Perspiration.”– Thomas Edison I am sending my newsletter late this Saturday, but I have an excuse: I have been working on a new novel. I know you are saying: The Ancestor isn’t even published yet and you’re already at it again? I have to confess that this is the case, and that I’m very immersed in this new idea, even though …

2.8.20

“Genius is 1 Percent Inspiration and 99 Percent Perspiration.”– Thomas Edison  Today is a full moon and it is also the first weekend after I began a new book, and so it makes sense that my first thought upon sitting down at my computer this morning was about cycles and beginnings and endings. I used to hate Twitter, and although I still am on the fence …

2.1.2020

“Genius is 1 Percent Inspiration and 99 Percent Perspiration.”– Thomas Edison Hello from the Writing Cave, where I am hard at work on my column for The New York Times Book Review. As many of you know, I write about gothic, horror and dark fiction for The New York Times four or five times a year. While there are only between six to eight books reviewed in …

1.25.20

“Genius is 1 Percent Inspiration and 99 Percent Perspiration.”– Thomas Edison  Good morning! I’m writing this as I rush off to the American Library Association’s annual Midwinter Conference, where I’ll be sitting at my publisher’s table this afternoon signing copies of The Ancestor. I’m excited to go to this conference because (first) librarians and libraries may very well be the reason I am a writer and (second) because …

1.18.20

“Genius is 1 Percent Inspiration and 99 Percent Perspiration.”– Thomas Edison  Hello from the writing cave, where I’m back to work after my week teaching fiction writing in Newport at Salve Regina’s Newport MFA. I returned home on Sunday, and it took a few days for me to get back into my routine. For those of you who have been with me for a while, you know …

1.11.20

“Genius is 1 Percent Inspiration and 99 Percent Perspiration.”– Thomas Edison Good morning from Newport Rhode Island, where I am finishing up my week-long residency at the Newport MFA Program. I have spent the week among Newport’s Gilded Age mansions. Here is Ochre Court, where we meet every day for readings and craft talks: It has been an exciting week of writing workshops, craft talks, and readings …

1.4.20

“Genius is 1 Percent Inspiration and 99 Percent Perspiration.”– Thomas Edison Hello and Happy New Year! It is a new year and a new decade, and while you may not take much stock in such things, this is generally considered the moment to create new habits and patterns, to decide to change something that isn’t working for you, to begin something new and close down something …