Working Writer 
There’s a persistent myth about writing novels that I’ve never quite related to: the idea that writers are carried forward by inspiration alone. If the idea is good enough, the words will come easily and consistently, and momentum will sustain itself. While that does happen, in many cases, that’s rarely how it works. I recently found myself in a strong …
Every year, writers make the same resolution: write more. And by February of every year, most of those writing goals fade. In 2026, I’m thinking differently about writing goals as part of a larger arc of moving from draft to publication. Finishing a draft is only one stage of the journey. If we want to grow as authors, our goals …
Sometime last month, I fell into one of the most intense creative bursts of my writing life. It came out of nowhere and completely rewired my November and December. The idea for the story had been playing at the back of my mind for a while, but I was completely buried in work. As soon as the project ended in …
Every writer usually has rituals ranging from intentional to somewhat strange. These writing rituals aren’t rules or requirements. They’re more like small doorways we build for ourselves, ways we signal to our minds that it’s time to enter the quiet place where words live. These writing rituals have been an essential part of my creative process since the beginning. And …
I discovered Tom Felton’s “Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard” when I was researching another book written by a celebrity. It turned up in the suggestions list below the page I was on. I was like, “What’s this? Draco Malfoy wrote a book. Let me check this out.” I liked the cover and the …