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Fiction editor & writer at the Blue Garret. Craft advice & encouragement for word workers.
2026
Oct 25, 2026
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5 min read
This is my third book, and it’s still scary to click the PUBLISH button
Oct 11, 2026
4 min read
Lessons from my Kickstarter campaign
Oct 10, 2026
What I learned from my campaign for Novel Study Book 2
Sep 27, 2026
7 min read
But put aside some seeds for future planting too
Sep 13, 2026
How do you want to spend these next weeks?
Aug 30, 2026
What the bestseller lists actually measure—plus a new Sentence Study focused on voice
Aug 16, 2026
Plus the book your writing group should be reading instead of The Artist's Way
book review
Aug 15, 2026
The book your writing group should read instead of The Artist's Way
Aug 2, 2026
What would you give yourself permission to do on opposite day?
Jul 19, 2026
2 min read
Help me shape the content of the newsletter over the next few months!
Jul 5, 2026
3 min read
Yes, I know it just arrived...
story structure
Jul 4, 2026
11 min read
How Layne Fargo uses chapter endings to control a novel's intensity
Jun 21, 2026
The magic of an unexpected breakthrough, plus a structural analysis of Freida McFadden's The Intruder
+1
Jun 14, 2026
8 min read
McFadden builds her bestsellers around a single surprise twist. What does it take to pull one off—and what does it cost?
scene study
Jun 8, 2026
What a single chapter reveals about how character description builds sympathy and hides clues in plain sight
Jun 7, 2026
6 min read
What scary movies are teaching me about storytelling—and a practical guide to revision
May 24, 2026
Two steps forward and one step back, over and over—plus a new Novel Study post
opening
May 18, 2026
McFadden’s titular intruder doesn’t appear until the end of chapter four. Why does she delay the inciting incident? And how does she keep readers turning pages until then?
May 10, 2026
A free Novel Study Book Club for Freida McFadden’s The Intruder starts this week, plus a deep dive on the family saga B-plot in Emily Henry’s Great Big Beautiful Life
Apr 30, 2026
15 min read
What Emily Henry gives up—and what she gains—by giving her family saga more page time than her romance
Apr 26, 2026
You might be surprised where that adventure takes you
Apr 12, 2026
Hey-o, we made it through March! And another new Novel Study piece
Apr 11, 2026
12 min read
How 'frontstory' action and backstory mystery work together to control tension across three acts
Mar 24, 2026
14 min read
How to use chronology, world-building, and POV shifts to establish themes and sustain tension
Mar 15, 2026
Changing the way I think about social media for my business and my books
