I would say that there’s no way to divide a room like bringing up AI, but politics, so you know… I’m bringing up AI. (Not politics.) Though you, my friends, are readers and writers, so you might tend more one way than the other. Perhaps. Do I hate AI? Do I love it? Do I…
In the capacity of bookseller, I have appeared on Kate Bowler’s Instagram to share a graduation recommendation and highlight our Durham bookshop. I have mixed feelings about this, but feel free to watch the short video and give it a like.
About a million years ago (in July of 2024), I went to a book event with an author that I didn’t yet know. The reason I went is that the novel he was reading from was an Arthurian story and one that I kept seeing everywhere (even though it was just then being published). I…
I work in a bookshop now. (They call that a bookseller.) I told you before but there’s no telling where you’ve joined this blog or how often you read it. I freaking love my job. Not only do I get to touch and smell and hug books while on the job, but it happens to…
It’s silly that I am only blogging about this now. But let’s assume that you are interested in hearing about a fellowship experience at a writing (craft) conference; you don’t care how long ago I actually did the thing. For what it’s worth, it is now April 2025. I went to Martha’s Vineyard in June…
I have addressed some of the drama surrounding NaNoWriMo in the past year to two years. But not really, because I have been a little confused about it while not knowing enough to hold some emotionally-charged opinion (which others seem willing to do). I have been a participant (and winner) of NaNoWriMo in the past,…
I got my dream job! Well, at least as far as part-time, out-of-the-home dream jobs go, I got my dream job. I am a bookseller, which doesn’t sound totally magical to everyone, but book people read me loud and clear. I am working in a brick and mortar, independent, small bookstore. I knew I was…
I am going to convince you that sometimes quitting is exactly what you need to do. In this instance, I quit before I even started. At the same time, I visited a local bookstore (Posman Books in Atlanta) and bought a magnet that says, “Never never never give up,” which is supposedly a Winston Churchill…
I’ll bet a bunch of you kinda know where this is going with the title that I gave this blog. I see you. The thing is, I have a conference coming up at the end of October. I also have the opportunity to hit up some beta readers in October. And the conference has pitches…
It was the eve of my birthday and I was headed to a book club meeting, except we were meeting at one of the leader’s houses and we were going to watch a (book-related) movie—an annual event. We were told we could bring treats; I took that as an opportunity to do some cooking or…
Way back in the spring, I went to a writing conference and didn’t tell. I wrote some notes for you, typed them up, and then got too busy with reviews and other things to share what it was like. North Carolina has a good writing network. I mean, there might be better, but there is…
It was just a normal day and I was just driving my ’17 Forester (named Smokey) along the Triangle freeways and highways when the latest episode of The Writer Files came up on my podcast player. I was like okay, that sounds good, and Kelton Reid started telling me (in his deep, dulcet, and mellow…
It has been the world’s slowest burn through homeschool and other things, but I do get noticed, more acknowledgment (and my network grows) with each week, each month, each year. I get people wanting to send ARCs on a regular basis, now. I get comments on the blog more than I used to. I even…
I mean, it’s not exactly New York City, but I do find that authors (and other events and shows) often come though the Triangle (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill). This month, a group of fantasy writers on a whirlwind tour together blew through and held an event at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh. I have become a Quail…
“Yeah, I am the least athletic person in the universe, but I compare writing to training for a sport. You have to do it every single day and nobody cares about your effort or how much time you spent or how much was wasted time. It doesn’t matter. It’s the end of the performance that…
“Literary miracles are the work of writers who come closer than other writers to expressing what is on their minds through innate genius augmented by control, technique, craft…” -Matthew J. Bruccoli in his introduction to The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
It’s that time of year again here on The Starving Artist and also in the writing world. Sure, I know plenty of writers don’t participate in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)—some of you even thumb your noses at the idea—but we are supportive of Nano, so there. And I know that Nano is in November,…
The truth is, I can’t always have a book in front of my face. Sometimes I do things like drive, and reading a physical novel while driving would be dangerous. I discourage it, for the record. So, in steps podcasts. While I am not the world’s biggest fan of audiobooks, I will listen to them…
A couple weeks ago, I was listening to a writing podcast (Write-Minded) and there was an interview with an author (Tzivia Gover) who uses dreams to write (and teaches classes on using your dreams to write). In the course of the interview, the interviewer and interviewee touched on the subject of writer’s block, a subject…
YOU HURT MY FEELINGS I am quite behind on my posts, here, due to some major life changes. And the summer is always busier than one anticipates, isn’t it? But back in the early summer, my husband and I went to the theater to see a smaller movie titled You Hurt My Feelings. Since it…
the starving artist 