by toby | Mar 3, 2012 | The Writing Life
Creativity is a flame. I’ve often told people, and experienced myself, the way that flame can be fanned and strengthened by some people and damped and stifled by others. Keeping the flame alive is something every artist has to do, and it’s so much easier when...
by toby | Feb 12, 2012 | The Writing Life
I stayed up until midnight last night finishing a read-though on Stolen in Paradise, my latest book, and then sent it to beta-readers (those intrepid souls who've agreed to have a whack at my first draft) at 12:01 a.m. I hoped to feel good today. Triumphant even. I...
by toby | Feb 6, 2012 | The Writing Life
I think PRINT BOOKS have an important role to play, even as technology changes. Print books are actually a class and economic issue, because of the secondary, used and donated book market that will disappear eventually. Perhaps it’s my social worker perspective, but...
by toby | Jan 7, 2012 | The Writing Life
Now that you have your Book of Secrets started, the main and first task to begin is the personal timeline. It’s a plumbline, really, a way to see when and how big decisions were made about your life—by yourself, and by others. Patterns emerge. Trends. Epiphanies. It’s...
by toby | Jan 2, 2012 | The Writing Life
My first novel, Blood Orchids, debuted in December. This has been a lifelong dream, and a process on a thousand different levels. It's also caused a bit of an upheaval in my personal and professional life as I resolve issues of being a therapist in private and public...