Note: This blog post was originally published on Women and Words in 2016. More than 20 years ago, I wrote a 65,000 word novel that I was convinced would make me the sweet young darling of literary circles. It didn’t happen. That manuscript was rejected by every English language publisher…

There’s been some hand-wringing lately in the white lesbian literary community about racism in our midst. Stop wringing your hands. You’ll chafe, and it won’t make any difference. Take action. Maybe buy and read books written by Black (writers of the African diaspora) lesbian (and bi, queer, trans, and non-binary)…

Journalist Nicola VanKing had to get this story. The development years ago of a procedure that removed excess adipose tissue and released traumatic memories and emotions had revived journalism and saved her career. …

There was a meme making the rounds advising introverts to check on their extroverted friends during this time of social isolation because we are not okay. And for quite a while this was a true statement for me. I’m a rare breed. I’m an extroverted writer who writes on crowded…

When my wife proposed writing a novel together a few years ago, I was initially resistant but not for the most obvious reasons. I wasn’t worried about our ability to work together. I wasn’t even worried about whether we could actually produce a good novel. We had decades of writing…

At this time of social distancing, economic stress, health stress, fear, and anxiety, I decided to get together (virtually, of course) with other lesfic authors to share words of wisdom and, hopefully, some comfort. We write because we love it, and we love you, dear readers. Many of us are…

Time travelling can be lots of fun, just ask H.G. Wells, but such journeys have special challenges for lesbians. Laws and attitudes have changed a lot over the decades. Being a lesbian can complicate a time traveller’s attempts to fit into a new time and place. …

As a writer I get asked all sorts of interesting questions and offered terrible advice (for the last time, getting kidnapped is not a good way to get a book deal). …

Most writers say they hate marketing, but I believe that’s mostly because writers don’t really understand what marketing is. It doesn’t have to entail nagging an endless list of bloggers to review your book (and honestly most of them probably wish you would stop). Marketing does start the minute you…