Spot That Error

I’ve been playing Spot That Error! for the past couple weeks. Why? Because I had three agents request my book at the writing conference. I wanted the thing 100% error proof. Which, if you’ve ever written anything 80,000 words long, is impossible. So I focused mainly on my first chapter. Surely I could get those […]

SHINE

I’ve been invited to work on a very special project by author William Bernhardt. He’s written a comic-book style series of stories about a girl named Aura, who finds out she has special powers by supposedly blowing up Seattle. He’s invited me and a few other authors to create our own stories, which will debut […]

So You Think You Can Think?

My brain has liquefied. I’ll tell you why. I attended the Rose State Writing Conference this weekend. I loved it. It was motivational, I learned new things, and I got to pitch my book to three agents, and all requested pages. (WOOT WOOT!) But when I came home, the pressure of getting my book out […]

What a Week and Another Snippet

Life throws curve balls all the time, doesn’t it? This week, I’d planned to volunteer in the school library, cart kids from ballet practice to football, make a quick run out to our church’s temple in Oklahoma City. I’m also making time to write–I plan to finish my fourth novel by the end of October. Today […]

I’m a Doctor’s Wife, Not a Millionaire

When I married my very insanely awesome husband eleven years ago, his marriage proposal came with a warning. “I’m going to be a doctor, Tam. Medical scholl will be hard. Residency will be worse. Life will be hard.” How hard? To put it in perspective, I’ve decided to address the topic to the Chief himself. Dear President […]

Ready, Set, Write

I’m celebrating at the Grantham house. Why? Because my kiddos went back to school yesterday, and I’ve been writing like a machine. Yesterday, I worked on four different novels/short stories. For those of you not familiar with my writing, I write mostly young adult fantasy, similar to Meg Cabot or Suzanne Collins. Here’s a look […]

Tamara Dares to Sleep

Sleep has been a hot commodity these days. The baby is usually really good at sleeping through the night, but as of late, he’s been waking up a couple times, and naps are getting shorter. The result? I’m tired. I hate being tired. I get grumpy. I think nasty thoughts about my loved ones who […]

On Being a Mother

I recently read a post (sorry, can’t remember where) about a mother of five children. She was bothered by comments others made about her lifestyle. Comments like, “Wow, you’ve got your hands full.” “How do you do it?” Her response was that she chose to have five children, she wouldn’t choose anything else, and while […]

Sad Cat Diary

I was in tears after watching this. Anyone who has cats will understand! So hilarious. I write this as my own cat, Chester, stalks my keyboard. I gave him my empty yogurt cup to appease him. He now has yogurt on his nose. Perhaps he can add it to the diary.

A Review of THE FIFTH WAVE by Rick Yancey

I’ll admit, since becoming a writer, I’ve gotten critical of everything I read. Instead of thinking, hey this is a good story, a little slow, but still fun–I’ll think, hey they’re cluttering the page with adverbs, why so much back story, is that adjective really necessary? That’s an example of my thought process. It’s called the […]