The Dog Days of an Author’s Summer
August may look quiet from the outside, but behind the scenes authors are tending stories the way gardeners tend their plants—patiently preparing for the season ahead.
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The Recliner Is Not My Friend
Some writing obstacles aren’t plot problems or lack of inspiration—they’re upholstered. After unexpectedly finishing an entire chapter of Fall From Grace in a single day, I discovered the biggest difference wasn’t my writing. It was where I sat. The recliner I’d always considered a harmless pre-writing stop had quietly become the world’s most comfortable procrastination machine.
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What’s On My Desk This Summer
Writers rarely work on just one book at a time. While readers see the finished novel, there’s often an entire queue of stories in progress behind it—drafts, edits, serials, and ideas waiting for their turn. Here’s a look at what’s currently occupying my writing desk this summer, from new thriller adventures to ongoing serial fiction and the next novel waiting in the wings.
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Sorry About the Lost Sleep
Ever sit down with a book thinking you’ll read just one chapter before bed… and suddenly it’s 2:03 a.m.? Mark Posey confesses why those “just one more chapter” moments are sometimes a little bit deliberate—and why writers secretly love hearing about them.
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A Writer’s Mind Does Not Walk in Straight Lines
A writer’s mind doesn’t stop at a strange thought — it follows it past the point most people turn back. Somewhere along that drift, reality starts to feel negotiable… and a story begins to breathe.
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When the Work You’re Paid For Pushes Aside the Work of the Heart
Some weeks, the stories don’t stall — they simply make room for other word-work. Editing, shaping, refining someone else’s manuscript is still time spent inside the craft. And when you finally return to your own blank page, you bring sharper instincts with you.
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The Top Five Misconceptions About Authors
People have a general sense of what authors do, but that sense is… impressionistic. Which leads to some wonderfully confident assumptions about money, inspiration, and what happens after a book is published. In the spirit of public service, here are five of the most persistent misconceptions about authors—and what the job actually looks like from the inside.
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Jacobine vs. Billings: Who’s More Fun to Torture?
One of the perks of writing thrillers is getting to torture characters. Jacobine makes me work harder—she’s deadly, clever, and never blinks. Billings, though, is convinced he’s in control…until the floor drops. Who’s more fun to torment: the nun with a gun, or the cocky spook?
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