Everyone was talking about it. That’s why I snuck upstairs and watched Ellen’s coming out episode on the TV in my parents’ bedroom. No other reason. In 1997, I was 14 and years away from realizing. Sure, I had a poster of Gillian Anderson on my wall and gazed at it daily. I’d filled a … Continue reading Coming out day

Dedicated to all the sketchy “social media marketing” companies that have contacted me since the book’s publication. Re: Your book The Love Factor Hello, fellow entrepreneur! Thank you for the opportunity to pay you $100 to post about my book on Twitter. As you know, it’s stressful to be a debut author. So, I was … Continue reading Opportunity (Let’s make lots of money)

Now that my book is published, I receive email from readers. This makes me very happy. But it also means I switch between my pen name and my real name, and the odds that I will mess up one day are… not in my favor. I’m not really worried about accidentally telling a reader my … Continue reading Protecting my secret identity

I recently founded Quinnsights, my author newsletter. Twenty-four hours later, I re-did the banner after some kind colleagues told me that it implied the newsletter would be depressing. Sometimes, my first instinct is not the best one. In this case, though, I had to discard quite a few ideas. For example: My forthcoming novel features … Continue reading Rejected newsletter concepts