I rarely read full books in a day or two—even comparatively short ones like When Breath Becomes Air—but the current of his words swept me for two straight days. And his advanced knowledge in medicine, in literature, and ultimately in life make for a compelling author.
My seven-year-old son once said, “I want to be famous but not rich because rich people can’t know God.” He learned this from the biblical story known as The Rich Young Ruler, where Jesus famously tells a rich man to sell all he owns and give it to the poor. The irony of my son’s … Continue reading Is a “rich life” at the end of “I Will Teach You to Be Rich”?
The calls start innocently enough. “I found you online while searching for an editor. I want to write a book.” Then I’m regaled for a couple of minutes—sometimes much longer than that—about the content of this ethereal, would-be, much-desired future book. But I don’t need to know all that much about the content of your … Continue reading If you want to write a book, stop before you start
I believe I "met" Shayla Raquel after being invited to an editors-only Facebook group that she and a co-conspirator launched a few years ago. Since I was just beginning my career as a freelance editor, I relished that group's insight, camaraderie, and helpfulness. Whenever I felt stuck, I asked that group. The fact that I … Continue reading What Happens When an Editor Writes Her First Novel? An Interview with Shayla Raquel on the Launch of “The Suicide Tree”
"The most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave to it neither power nor time." —Mary Oliver, Upstream
