When I Grow Up I Want to Be Like You
In one way or another, I’d been planning to be a writer from the time I was a teenager. When I graduated college, though, I needed a job...
Food and Home
My novel The Journey Home has multiple inspirations. The strongest of these was the romance between my mother and father that lasted more...
Degree of Difficulty
Writing fiction isn’t like competing in the Olympics in terribly many ways. This is, for the most part, a good thing, as my training...
On Editors and Editing
The very first book I ever edited – David Brin’s Startide Rising – won both the Nebula and Hugo Awards. My batting average has plummeted...
Going Back to It
Early in my publishing career, I worked with a vaunted science fiction writer, one of the true masters of the field. His books...
In a Sentimental Mood
Many years ago, I read an article that John Irving wrote for the New York Times Book Review. In it, he defended the novelist’s use of...
Based on a True Story
I’ve always been suspicious of films that purported to be “based on a true story.” That seems like a huge cheat to me. You get the...
To Make it Real, Make it Fantasy
The first writer whose work truly resonated with me was Ray Bradbury. I’ll never forget picking up a copy of his story collection, I Sing...
At the Keyboard and On the Couch
When I was going through the revision process on my first novel with my editor, we had a telling conversation. She was concerned that I...
