For those of you I don't run into regularly, online or in person, I have news: after nearly 16 years in Colorado, and nearly 30 years away from California, I'm returning to my home state. It will still be a new home for me, because this time I won't be living in Los...
Writing
Stage a House, Revise a Novel – Cara’s Post at the Blood-Red Pencil
My husband and I are selling our house, while I'm also wrapping up my novel. Today at The Blood-Red Pencil, I compare staging our home to show to buyers with revising my manuscript to submit to agents. Both are bigger jobs than I expected. Please check out my...
Tiny Destroyer of Worlds
Pangyrus, a Boston-based literary journal, has published my flash nonfiction piece Tiny Destroyer of Worlds. It's the story of a nine-year-old pyromaniac (that would be me) who discovers the thrilling power to destroy. I'm dedicating it posthumously to my friend and...
Fun and Games – Cara’s Post at The Lighthouse Writers Top-Secret Blog
Today you can find me at the Lighthouse Writers Top-Secret Blog, where I share why eight-year-old Ruby kept crying in my recent writing class, and what made her stop. It has to do with Fun and Games and why they are important to creativity—and to humanity. .
The Writer and the Secret Fan – Cara’s Post at the Blood-Red Pencil
Today at The Blood-Red Pencil, I look at storytelling as the opening of a fan. Check out The Writer and the Secret Fan, here.
Crowdfunding a Guest Author Program for Kids
Today, you have an opportunity to contribute to a great educational program and win a signed copy of my memoir, They Only Eat Their Husbands. The Guest Author Program at Jefferson County Open School invites working authors from the Colorado community to teach...
What I’ve Learned from a World-Class Novelist – Cara’s Guest Post at The Blood-Red Pencil
I recently had a chance to hear world-class novelist Kazuo Ishiguro speak on the craft of writing at a Lighthouse Writers Workshop event. If you would like to be inspired, check out what I took away from his words in my post today at The Blood-Red Pencil.
Feedback with Compassionate Detachment – Cara’s Guest Post at The Blood-Red Pencil
Whether or not you're a writer, I hope you'll find some useful insights in my guest post today over at The Blood-Red Pencil. Today I share a few favorite tips about giving fellow writers Feedback with Compassionate Detachment. We all give and receive feedback at one...
The New Kid at The Blood Red Pencil
Please join me today over at The Blood Red Pencil, a blog for editors and writers by editors and writers. I'm the newest blogger on their talented and accomplished team, thanks to an invitation from founder Dani Greer, an impressive writer, editor, and blogger, as...
Unfinished
Today you'll find me over at the blog for YouNiversity, a new mentoring program for young Latino authors, where I've contributed a post called Unfinished. You know, that thing that most writing is for most writers most of the time? If you've ever experienced the agony...