Beatrice Gormley

Long before my first book was published, I learned that real writers never, ever, publish themselves. The only way to become a professional writer, everyone said, was for your work to be accepted by a mainstream publisher who would give you an advance and pay you royalties. “Self-publishing” meant that you (more…)

Every once in a while I get an impulse to read a classic novel. Last summer it was Huckleberry Finn; last month it was The Great Gatsby. It’s always rewarding. It’s always inspiring for my own writing. Not that I’m going to write about life on the (more…)

I’ve been noticing mentions of Tim O’Brien’s novel The Things They Carried, about soldiers in the Vietnam War, for years now. But I was afraid it would be unbearably grim, so I didn’t read it. Finally this Memorial Day weekend I realized the book has become a classic (more…)

Reading the New York Times science section the other day, I was struck by an article about how having enemies at school can “enhance social and emotional development” for kids. Omg.

I was carried right back to seventh grade, when I started junior high school and suddenly felt like I was in (more…)

What am I working on now? That’s what people always ask. And I always want to answer that I’m working on a book under contract. The truth is, at the moment I’ve got three projects going, but they’re all kind of up in the air: (more…)

First blog ever!

For the longest time I couldn’t imagine writing a blog, because a) I’d waste time blogging when I could be writing an actual book, and b) more important, how could I write to strangers? Wouldn’t my blog turn out like one of those obnoxious holiday letters to Dear Everyone?

Then I thought, But the people who read my books aren’t strangers. We already have a connection. I’ve liked every single reader who’s ever talked to me or written me a message. I can write to those people!

As for the time, I could try blogging once a week. Which is about as often as I email my sister, and that's easy to fit in.

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