This Light Up the Lamp isn't the actual Light Up the Lamp. Or, rather, perhaps the way to put it is: the version that exists in my head...

The more I publish my writing, the more I learn that characters and the scenarios I put them through are a form of a litmus test for...

One reason the three-act structure doesn't work for me as a process to create a story is the fact that a story is, at its heart, about a...

The age old question: top load vs. front load washer. Toilet paper over or under. Knives pointing up in the dishwasher or down. Pantser...

Ok, so look, Abbot's actually my favorite character, except for Ned who is my all time fave if there wasn't Cooper, who is definitely top...

Part of the best thing about writing is all the surprises that lay in store. When I wrote Cattle Stop, I fully intended it to be a stand...

Are you telling me that it doesn't actually add up that Sadie would be an old dog in Cattle Stop and While the Sun Shines, and then still...

Back when I was just a nervous, unhappy kiddo, I went to a neurologist for migraines and anxiety. Faced with twelve year old me, he...

The scene: the farmhouse kitchen, the screen door banging closed and Whit's truck squealing out of the driveway. The people: Penny and...

I'm not saying that Whit flew out to Oregon with no plan, but Whit definitely flew out to Oregon with no plan. He told Drew he needed a...

What do you do when you accidentally-on-purpose kiss the guy you've had a crush on for ages but also really, definitely, don't get along...

Writing A Place To Go meant more drafts than I ever anticipated, but when I finally landed on the idea of writing it from Abbot's...

Spoiler alert! Ned and Abbot fall in love. Ok, but for real: this blog post includes a DVD style commentary on a passage from The Place...

In the last blog post we talked about Tim’s side of events, detailing a) Billy’s bad timing, b) Billy’s bad timing, c) Billy’s...

Cal. Tim. Phone calls that last until the flight attendant has to ask Tim to put your phone away sir, this is the second time I’ve spoken...