Home » Posts tagged 'Amy Tan'

Tag Archives: Amy Tan

The Second Book

Posted on by | 4 Comments

Coming on November 15, 2023: my second novel

As of this writing, I’ve read Amy Tan’s essay, “Angst and the Second Book,” at least twenty times. I’ve referred people to it. I’ve quoted it. I’ve underscored passages (and I’m not casual when it comes to writing in books).

Right now, this essay resonates in my soul.

Because on November 15, 2023–less than two months from today–I shall release my Second Book.

Technically, it’s my third book. My second book was a novella entitled, My Brother, Romeo (Tuxedo Cat Press, 2021), which was issued only as an ebook. That release was a deliberate choice. I’d published my debut novel, State v. Claus (Tuxedo Cat Press, 2020), a year earlier. I wanted to build up my backlist, and I knew the sequel to State v. Claus wouldn’t be ready for a 2021 release since, among other things, I hadn’t yet written it. So I published My Brother, Romeo to fill the gap.

My upcoming book, Becoming Mrs. Claus, is my second novel. Like State v. Claus, it will be published in paperback as well as ebook. In my heart, it’s my Second Book.

And even though my marvelous beta readers and my amazing editor have been enormously encouraging, and although some lovely authors have already said wonderful things about Becoming Mrs. Claus, the fact that it’s my Second Book terrifies me.

Continue reading →

The Next Day

Posted on by | 4 Comments

Draft #2

Once before, I did it. This total rewriting, remaking of a story.

The story in question was the third segment of a trilogy. I knew how I wanted it to end, but somehow the ending always fell flat. I kept sending drafts to a very patient writer friend, asking if it worked because I hoped desperately that it actually did and I just wasn’t seeing it. Except she saw exactly what I saw, namely that it didn’t.

Finally, I took what I’d written and set it aside, and I began again. This time, instead of beginning with a quiet, dull scene where family members talked about their depressed family member, I went to the other extreme. I plunked him down in the middle of a bar fight, one he’d started. At once, the story was alive, with people doing instead of merely discussing.

Continue reading →

Look, I made a story

Posted on by | 4 Comments
Photo credit: Michael C on Unsplash

Today, I wrote a story.

“Big deal,” you think. “You’re a writer. It’s what you’re supposed to do.”

Except to be honest, I’ve been struggling in recent months to come up with something that—in my humble opinion—is worth writing.

Maybe I’ve gotten pickier. Or maybe it’s that I’ve written some stories that I truly think are good, and yet they’ve have struggled to get off the starting block, and so I question my own judgment. One story has been a finalist in two different competitions and was highly praised by the organizers of one of those competitions–but as I sent it off today, I noticed that this was its seventeenth launch. It’s already awaiting judgment at three publications, but I submitted it anyway, albeit with more stoicism than optimism.

Continue reading →