It’s autumn, a time when my mood generally takes an inward turn. Okay, if I’m being honest, I tend to brood year-round, though most people wouldn’t realize it. I’m a ponderer, a ruminator, perhaps most of all, a second-guesser. But I’m usually pretty successful at keeping it to myself. I mean, I’m not an obsessively […]
Tough Love
August 26, 2013 by
At a recent bookstore event, I experienced a cringe-worthy moment. Oddly, my distress involved a pair of shoppers interested in buying my novel, THE NAMESAKE. It’s not that these patrons were creepy or threatening. In fact, they were friendly, talkative. Heck, they looked like they’d walked straight out of a breakfast cereal commercial. The thing […]
One Thing
August 21, 2013 by
This post originally appeared August 20, 2013 on Uncommon YA, the home of gutsy YA fiction. Check out this awesome site where YA authors tell it like it is! One Thing. When I saw this blog assignment title, I immediately thought of that One Direction song. Admit it, you’re humming it right now. “I need […]
NEXT BIG THING!
August 14, 2013 by
Is it too late for THE NAMESAKE to be considered the next big thing? See, my YA novel, THE NAMESAKE, technically released in early 2013, but it doesn’t seem fair to rob my protagonist, Evan Galloway, of his shot at 15 minutes of Next-Big-Thingness. Does it? Well, I hope not. And fellow YA author, Beth […]
Love that Cover!
August 14, 2013 by
Despite the familiar caution against judging a book by its cover, appearance can be a make-or-break factor in reader appeal. Great cover art is like a strong handshake, a book’s initial chance to make that all-important, positive first impression. Along with writing and teaching, I’m an artist. My undergrad degree is in graphic design. So […]
Events & Appearances
August 7, 2013 by
Let’s face it. Writing can be a pretty solitary pursuit. Luckily, now that The Namesake is out in the world, I’m able to connect with readers on the page. Being an author also affords me the opportunity to actually meet readers to both discuss my work and encourage others in their own writing. One of […]
Five YA Books Every Guy Should Read
August 2, 2013 by
Adolescence is more than an awkward pit stop along the highway to adulthood. As Five for Fighting sings in “100 Years,” the teenager is “caught between ten and twenty.” That’s an apt description because those in-between years, though filled with excitement and promise, are also fraught with confusion, uncertainty and self-doubt. For both genders, expectations […]
Web Appearances
July 18, 2013 by
Friday, September 6, 2013: Excited to be featured on Author Interview Friday on Confessions of a Book Addict, the awesome blog site run by Book Addict 24/7, Dayla F.M. It was my honor to have the opportunity to discuss THE NAMESAKE in depth in response to Dayla’s truly insightful questions. Take a look and leave […]
Meet My Main Characters: The Namesake
July 14, 2013 by
MAJOR PLAYERS A poet, artist, and college professor, I wrote The Namesake, one of Merit Press’s debut titles. In one course I teach, Studies in Young Adult Fiction, we discuss key YA elements, including the struggle for autonomy and the search for self, just two factors needed in a living, breathing YA protagonist. Another crucial […]
