" A wildly inventive, consistently engaging, and amusing comic novel, but under its bright exterior lurk darker undertones and truths.... "
" A wildly inventive, consistently engaging, and amusing comic novel, but under its bright exterior lurk darker undertones and truths.... "
" Tillie’s grit and ability to face life’s challenges are inspiring, the seeds for later discovering her artist self. Tillie takes readers on a wild ride. Join her if you dare! "
" A wildly inventive, consistently engaging, and amusing comic novel, but under its bright exterior lurk darker undertones and truths.... "
" A wildly inventive, consistently engaging, and amusing comic novel, but under its bright exterior lurk darker undertones and truths.... "
" A wildly inventive, consistently engaging, and amusing comic novel, but under its bright exterior lurk darker undertones and truths.... "
" A wildly inventive, consistently engaging, and amusing comic novel, but under its bright exterior lurk darker undertones and truths.... "
" A wildly inventive, consistently engaging, and amusing comic novel, but under its bright exterior lurk darker undertones and truths.... "
"Fling! is both hilarious and touching. Every page is a surprise, and the characters! I especially loved Bubbles, one of the most endearing mothers in recent fiction. A scintillating read."
" A wildly inventive, consistently engaging, and amusing comic novel, but under its bright exterior lurk darker undertones and truths.... "
" A wildly inventive, consistently engaging, and amusing comic novel, but under its bright exterior lurk darker undertones and truths.... "
" These fascinating characters will fill your imagination, defying expectations about aging, art, and what truly matters in life. "
" A wildly inventive, consistently engaging, and amusing comic novel, but under its bright exterior lurk darker undertones and truths.... "
" A wildly inventive, consistently engaging, and amusing comic novel, but under its bright exterior lurk darker undertones and truths.... "
" Indicative of the title, the poems in All This range from the conventional lyric/narrative that captures an intense moment of emotion, an epiphany glimpsed briefly out of the corner of the eye, to the more experimental. "
" A wildly inventive, consistently engaging, and amusing comic novel, but under its bright exterior lurk darker undertones and truths.... "
" A wildly inventive, consistently engaging, and amusing comic novel, but under its bright exterior lurk darker undertones and truths.... "
Each finely crafted poem in this powerful collection comes alive on the page while she traces the days’ journeys with a painter’s eye, a musician’s ear, and the deft pen of a poet.
When I told a long-time friend that the publisher of Freefall: A Divine Comedy, released in 2019, would be publishing my fourth novel in 2021, a long-time friend said, “You’ve worked harder as a writer than anyone I know. I’m proud of you!”
I replied, “I’ve learned that perseverance and determination and self-belief are essential to succeeding as a writer.”
But what does this mean? (more…)
I sent an email message to family and friends recently that the publisher of Fling! had offered me a three-book contract. It will include my novel Freefall: A Divine Comedy (to be published in 2017), Tillie: Portrait of a Canadian Girl in Training, and a third that also will feature the Tillie character (she appears in Freefall as well).
One long-time friend responded, “You have worked harder as a writer than anyone I know and I’m proud of you!”
I replied, “I’ve learned that perseverance and determination and self-belief are essential to succeeding as a writer.”
But what does this mean?
Let’s start with perseverance. We persevere when we continue doing something even if we have no assurance of success. If writers want to be published, they must endure self-doubt, rejections, and blocks to eventually be published. Writing a novel takes a long time. I started working on Fling! in 1999 and it wasn’t published until 2015! Of course, I wasn’t focused on Fling! all those years. I wrote other novels in the meantime. Yet if I hadn’t persisted, the book would not be out in the world, seeking its readers.
And determination? Clearly, it takes considerable resolve in order to follow this torturous path. Writers have to get up each day, sit down in front of the computer screen, and face the blank page, intent on moving the narrative forward (or even sideways if that’s the direction it wants to take) in order to complete the work. It requires considerable grit, doggedness, and courage to pick up the metaphorical pen and keep writing, no matter what.
By now you can see why self-belief is so essential. If you don’t have basic confidence in yourself as a writer, and that only comes from proving to yourself you have the right stuff by writing regularly, it will be more difficult for you to press on. The more we do something, the more our skills at that task improve. If I want to become a good tennis player, I can’t just go out a few times and swing at some balls. I’ll never develop belief in myself as a tennis player with that approach. But if I take some lessons and pursue the game consistently, I’m bound to improve. The same is true of writing, so that these three words—perseverance, determination, and self-belief—create a circle. Inside that ring is the writer who one day will find publishing success because s/he’s pursued his/her dream.
Hence, Perseverance, determination, and self-belief (PDS) versus Passivity, Doubt, and Fear (PDF).
