• The Biting Truth About Transitions

    When I was in labor, fourteen years ago, I almost bit my husband’s neck. We were trying that “dancing” technique that sounds so sweet in Lamaze class—my arms around his shoulders, his arms around my giant waist, rocking back and forth. But I involuntarily added another move: my teeth were bared and slowly sinking into his neck. He still thanks me for not actually biting down, but I was this close. I was in transition—that in between time when you go from pain to HELLO PAIN! Transition. Such a nice word to describe agony. Life is full of transitions—moving, changing jobs, going from unmarried to married, married to single, kids…

  • Words Never Spoken

    I once had to do something really mean to a character and it took me by surprise. The story needed it, but I didn’t know until all of a sudden, while I was writing, it hit me—what I had to do—and it left me feeling a little sick.             Oh no. Not that. This is gonna hurt. But it had to be done. For the sake of the story. Writers are cruel, cruel beings. So I took a breath and apologized out loud to my character before I stabbed her in the back. Then I fleshed out the scene, blew my nose, and took my kids to the park as…